



AND 
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.AC H I B VE M E. NT 








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THE 



SPEAKING OAK 

AND 300 OTHER TALES OF LIFE, 
LOVE AND ACHIEVEMENT 



BY 



Ferdinand C. Iglehart 




New York 

The Christian Herald 

Louis Klopsch, Prop. 

1902 






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CLASS (X-xXft No. 
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Copyright, 1902, by Louis Klopsch 



PREFACE 



#-|-% HE OAK speaks. It suggests to the farmer the number of rails or cords of 
•^ wood that can be cut from it. It tells the lumberman the quantity of tim- 

^^gj ber it can furnish for houses, furniture, or ships. It reminds the flock of 
sheep and herd of cattle of its grateful shade in the summer, and promises 
swine the acorns in the autumn. It puts on the robes of royal purple, smiles with 
fascinating feature and makes love to the artist who takes its picture. It asks the 
man of science to watch the acorn break its shell, to follow the rootlets down into 
the soil in search of food, to notice its skillful carpentry in building up the 
stem and joining the branches and sawing out the figures of the leaves. It bids 
him put his ears close enough to its bosom to hear the breathing of the lungs 
and the beating of the heart as it sends its vital current to the farthest finger-tips 
of the twigs. It speaks to the Christian, telling him that it also is of divine origin, 
and asking him to look through the gauze veil of leaves and branches and see 
the Infinite Personality, the benign Heavenly Father. 

Not only does the oak talk; all trees and things and events have a tongue 
and speak an eloquent language. I have taken the Oak of Dodona, through 
which the gods spoke to men, and their message to the Grecian hero telling him 
how to find the Golden Fleece and secure his crown, to introduce stories of men 
and things, as interpreters of moral truth and as expressions of the Divine voice. 
It may be that young men or women will find in these stories some new light on 
the pathway of life, some noble ambition, brighter hope or better service; that 
they will hear a voice above the oak or star calling to a higher destiny. May be 
men and women immersed in the business or cares of this world may gain from 



these tales some added strength for burdens, courage for conflicts and patience in 
perplexities ; that they will turn their eyes from material plans to spiritual forces, 
from the accidents and incidents of life to the realities of the universe. Possibly 
the aged in reading these pages may take new comfort in the bosom of loved ones, 
and have fresh visions of the faces of those who have gone before them to the 
better land. 

In the preparation of this volume, I undertook to collect material which 
would be of value to the orator or essayist in the secular and religious world in 
the presentation of the spoken or written message. I gathered many things which 
I thought would be of service to ministers, Sunday School teachers, and workers 
in the various young people's societies of the Church in illustrating and empha- 
sizing moral and religious truth. I have discovered a number of unpublished 
incidents in the lives of Washington Irving, Lincoln, Grant, Stonewall Jackson 
and other distinguished characters; I have related some anecdotes connected with 
my own life, which had burned themselves into my soul and were demanding 
expression. 

If only one young person shall have a higher thought or nobler ambition; 
if only one disheartened soul shall take fresh courage; if the shadow shall be 
driven from but a single face; if but one bad heart shall be made good, I shall 
feel paid for the time and labor bestowed upon the work. The book goes on its 
ministry of love to God and fellow men, and breathing a prayer that it may be 
a speaking oak through whose leaves the voice Divine may talk to the children 
of the King. 

F. C. I. 

Tarrytown-on-Hiidson, i()02. 



VI 



LIST OF CONTENTS 



Page 

The Speaking Oak 17 

A Professional Burglar Converted 19 

General Harrison and his Little Daughter 20 

Lincoln, the Lawyer, Acts as Pastor 21 

The Knight of the Red Cross 22 

Washington's Early Prophecy 23 

Welcomes Leprosy out of Love for her Husband 24 

Little Sins 25 

Grover Cleveland's Tribute to William McKinley 25 

The Power of a Bad Book 27 

The Mountain Hind Receives the Stroke 28 

Gates Ajar 29 

The Inventor of the Electric Telegraph 29 

Severus and his Two Bad Sons 31 

A Flagman Crushed to Death Rescuing a Child 32 

Bend the Head or Strike the Beam 33 

The Choice of Hercules 34 

The Victorian Age 37 

The Foundation of the Y. M. C. A 38 

Goneril and Regan, Undutiful Daughters 39 

Cordelia, the Dutiful Daughter 40 

Christ's Comfort in Affliction 42 

A Stripe or a Coffin 43 

The Fatal Tiger's Cage 44 

An Atheist Saved by the Death of his Wife 45 

Roses and Reformation 46 

What a Crippled Girl Did for Christ 48 

Proper Preparation for Church Service 49 

The Statue of a Dog 50 

The Letter " V " Above the Student's Door ....... 51 

vii 



LIST OF CONTENTS 

Page 

General Grant Finds a Lost Child 52 

Christian Herald Gospel Hall 55 

Graven on the Tablet of the Heart 57 

Friendship of Lee and Jackson 59 

The Ministry of Song 60 

Heroic Deed Rewarded 61 

King Alfred and the Last Loaf of Bread 62 

Constancy 62 

Stonewall Jackson's Faith in Divine Providence 63 

The Corporal and the Scorpion 64 

The Giants with Six Arms had but One Heart 68 

The Song " Ninety and Nine " 68 

The Great Stone Face 69 

Every Man has his Place 73 

President Roosevelt on the Bible 74 

Undying Friendship 78 

A Sound Heart 80 

A Blind Man Who Saw 80 

Uncertainty of Life 82 

Professor Morse as a Christian 83 

Lincoln and the Little Negro Girl 84 

Balmoral 85 

Buried Talent 86 

Science and Belief 87 

A Young Man Saves a Hundred and Twenty Lives 87 

A Tin Roof for a Bed : the Blue Sky for a Quilt 88 

General Harrison's Affections 91 

A Poor Man Rich and a Rich Man Poor 92 

The Fable of the Eagle and the Cat 93 

A Brave Chinese Boy 94 

The Water Supply at Ladysmith 95 

The Danger of Letting the Light Go Out 96 

Victoria Teaches a Sunday School Class 96 

Ben Franklin as a Boy 97 

Snow Bridges 9^ 

Young Converts on the Battleship " Maine " 98 

Napoleon's Religion 99 

Professor Huxley and the Bible loi 

Peter Cooper the Inventor 102 

Converted in his Cell 103 

Lee at Prayer Meeting During a Battle 104 



vni 



LIST OF CONTENTS 

Page 

The Man who Saved the Day at Pekin 105 

Theodore Roosevelt's Moral Heroism no 

Lincoln Makes the Old Man's Heart Glad in 

A Boy Saves his Enemy from Drowning- 1 13 

Faith and Works 114 

God in the Constitution 115 

Lord Ashburton and Carlyle 116 

Magnanimity 116 

Missionary Address by President McKinley 1 17 

Unconscious Influence 118 

The Brotherhood of Man 119 

Stonewall Jackson 120 

Napoleon's Religious Cowardice 121 

Woman's Love for her Country 122 

The Humility of a Queen 123 

A Sermon in a Basket of Provisions 124 

The Broken Cable did not Discourage Him 127 

Two Irishmen who Found Gold 129 

Faithful at his Post 129 

A Father's Advice to his Son 130 

Killed by his Brother 131 

God's Call to Greatness 133 

Bible Instruction at Home 134 

Love of Husband for Wife 134 

True Stewardship 135 

McKinley on Washington's Religion 137 

Boxers 138 

Keen Eyes 139 

Complaints at God's Providence 140 

Ore to be Gotten by Digging 141 

A Missionary Among the Cannibals 142 

General Lee's Letter to his Son 145 

Royal Sympathy 147 

Received the Victoria Cross 148 

Lincoln's Kindness to a Young Physician 149 

Earthly Immortality 150 

Earned Freedom through Bravery 150 

A Sister's Love 151 

The Mirror in the Window 152 

Lowering a Flag to Get in a Saloon ,. . . 153 

Good Deeds Delayed Too Long ,...,.. 154 

ix 



LIST OF CONTENTS 

Page 

Death in Delay 155 

A Macedonian Student Goes Through Yale by Running a Trolley Car . .156 

The German Emperor's Sermon 158 

A Great Orator 159 

Flowers that Bloom in the Night 160 

President McKinley's Advice to Young Christians 161 

The Atheist and Chief Justice Marshall 163 

A King Devotes Himself and his Nation to Religion 164 

The Value of a Soul 167 

Remarks of Peter Cooper at the Opening of the Cooper Union . . .168 

Disregard of the Christian Sabbath 169 

Franklin's Faith in Immortality 172 

A Boy Runs Away from Home 173 

Birds of Paradise 174 

Last Message of Alfred the Great to his Son 175 

Lincoln and his Pet Pig 176 

A Prince Carries an Old Woman Across a River 180 

Henry Ward Beecher's Fondness for Nature 182 

A Mother's Influence 183 

Humility 184 

A Beautiful Child of the New Century 185 

The Recent Interment of the Bones of a King Killed a Thousand Years Ago 186 

Lee's Simple Faith in Christ 188 

The Danger of a Careless Expression 189 

Christ Will Fight Our Battles for Us 189 

Lincoln Nominates Himself for the Presidency 190 

An Afternoon in a Free Library 191 

He Sets the Prisoner Free 192 

Taking Aim 193 

Emperor William's Message to the Y. M. C. A. . . . . . . 194 

Hypocrisy 195 

A Noble and an Ignoble Courtship 197 

The Spirit that Disarmed the Boxers 199 

The Woman from Grimesville 199 

Love for Animals 200 

Benjamin Harrison's Industry 201 

Scattering and Increasing 202 

A Commander Lost Saving his Men 203 

They Sang and Prayed in the Storm 204 

Lost his All in a Lottery 205 

Brother Against Brother 206 

X 



LIST OF CONTENTS 

Page 

Contemplated Suicide; Found Life 207 

No Hope of Sight for the BHnd Chaplain 208 

Life Saving Service 209 

Stories of a Modern Novelist Suggested by the Bible 210 

A Drummer Boy Beats a Rally 213 

The Fatal Bar of Gold 213 

A Conqueror Not Stopped by the Sea 214 

President Estrada Palma and his Mother 214 

Estimate of Dr. Talmage by an Intimate Friend 215 

The Twin Graves of the Mountain 217 

President Grant and the Bible 218 

Washington Irving on Spirit Communication 219 

The Eagle Frozen to the Ground 220 

The Lover's Locket 221 

Cruelty to Living Things 221 

Wu-Ting-Fang on Lincoln 223 

Saved 3,000 Children ; Lost his Own Life 223 

President McKinley and Divine Providence 224 

Fell to Death in the Alps 225 

A Fatal Vanity 226 

Pride that Went Before a Fall 226 

Benjamin Franklin's Religion 22^ 

Taming the Brazen Bulls 228 

A South American Statesman on the Bible 229 

Lincoln and the Bible 231 

It is Finished 233 

Big-hearted General Lee 234 

Benjamin Harrison as a Lawyer 235 

Wang Cheng Pel's Beautiful Death 236 

The Prince and the Children 236 

Meeting After Thirty Years of Absence 237 

Pagans and Christians Pray for Each Other 238 

An Old Man Scatters Flowers Over Soldiers' Graves 239 

Lincoln's Magnanimity 240 

Heroic Care for Insane Relatives 241 

Ants Turned into Men 242 

Cut the Rope ; Saved his own Life 243 

Capital Punishment Among Birds 243 

The Printing on the Cotton Pocket-Handkerchief 244 

Bombarded the Heavens in Vain for Rain ....... 247 

Governor Odell's Industry , . . . . 248 

xi 



LIST OF CONTENTS 

Page 

His Wife's Face in the Case of his Watch 249 

Grant and the Colt 250 

Dressed for the King's Palace 250 

The Mimicry of Life 251 

Narrow Escape of a Miner 252 

What a Hindoo Girl Suffered for Christ 253 

The King and the Ant Hill 254 

A Hero with his Face to the Foe 254 

A Heart Broken by the Hammer of Affliction 256 

Snags and Success 257 

Cleveland Believes in the Religion of his Mother 258 

The Charity of Frederick HI 259 

Whalers who Missed a Valuable Prize 260 

Prayer Saved the Besieged in Pekin 261 

Washington's Love for the Poor 262 

The Boy Officer, William McKinley 262 

Lincoln's Letter to a Bereaved Mother 264 

The Boy who Could See Nothing but Flowers 265 

Field Marshal Roberts Honored by the Queen 266 

The Thief in the Carriage House 268 

A Young Man Preaches to a Preacher 269 

Thomas Edison's First Appearance in Boston 271 

The Boy Farragut 272 

The Knight who Slew Death 273 

Protected by the Great Spirit 274 

The Bellman who Died at his Post 275 

Browning's Religious Faith 275 

General Harrison's Tenderness of Heart 276 

Lincoln Pardons a Soldier Condemned to Death 277 

Widowhood 278 

Penelope Darling and the Birds 281 

Integrity and Industry 283 

Clothing for the Body and the Soul 285 

The German Emperor on Christianity 286 

Motherhood 287 

Ary Scheffer's "Christus Consolator" 288 

Persistent Effort 289 

The Leader of a Murderous Mob Converted 290 

Early Childhood of Charles Spurgeon 292 

A Journeyman Printer Tells How He First Met Lincoln .... 293 

Looked Back and Lost his Wife 294 

xii 



LIST OF CONTENTS 

AFA • Page 

Triumphant Death of a Japanese Student 295 

A Turtle Four Hundred Years Old 296 

Moody and his Brother George 297 

A Motionless Nation 298 

Boxed the Train Boy's Ears 299 

The Influence of Burns over Whittier 300 

It Was His Own Boy 301 

The Dangerous Cigarette 302 

The Heroism of a Dog 302 

A Trying Ordeal 303 

The Young Missionary to Indiana 303 

" It Was All My Fault ; I Forgot " 304 

A Naval Commander's Heroism 305 

The Friend Who Made Lincoln President 306 

Children Perishing with the Famine in India 308 

Why the Lotus Blooms on the Nile 309 

Doing the Will of God 310 

A Brave Mother Saves her Child 311 

The Man who Cursed his Country 312 

Harrison's Incorruptibility 315 

Self-sacrifice is Life 316 

The Cracking of St. Paul's Cathedral 317 

Gladstone's Letter to Mrs. Spurgeon 317 

Damage Done by a Fast Young Man 318 

Richest Treasure in the Most Beautiful Casket 319 

Died at a Wedding 320 

The Phonograph Came from a Prick on the Finger 320 

General Harrison as a Christian 321 

Robert Fulton's Neglected Grave 322 

W. J. Bryan's Tribute to McKinley 323 

Bismarck's Religion 324 

Abe Lincoln and the Lost Ox 327 

The Little Flower that Saved the Man's Life 328 

The Lineman Who Neglected to Use his Gloves 328 

Jackson Declines an Invitation to Dinner 329 

The Vision of the Mirza 330 

Miss Helen Gould on the " Stewardship of Wealth " 335 

Sowing the Dragon's Teeth 336 

Two Per Cent, of Genius ; Ninety-eight of Hard Work 337 

China Makes Expiation for the Death of Baron von Ketteler . . . .338 

Franklm's Swimming School 340 

xiii 



LIST OF CONTENTS 

Page 

Character and Credit 341 

The Young Boer Who Escaped from a British Prison 342 

Washington Irving and the Old Nurse at Sunnyside 344 

Why Spurgeon Did Not Go to College 346 

The Dying Colonel and the Flag 347 

"Never Mind; What am I to Do Next?" 348 

An Atheist Converted by his Own Writing 351 

Victoria's Real Crown 352 

Ten Days in Paradise 353 

Lord Roberts and General Miles Discourage Drinking 355 

General Joubert's Piety 356 

Twenty-five Thousand Dollars' Ransom for a Child 357 

O! I Could Love Him 359 

What a Kind W^ord Did for a Ploughboy 360 

Whittier's Religion 362 

Did I Do All That I Could? 364 

The Sanitary Commission an Answer to Lincoln's Prayer .... 365 

The Dead Still With Us 366 

The Blue and the Gray 366 

The First President of the Cuban Republic 369 

Washington's Habits of Devotion 372 

DeWet, the Black Angel of the Boers 373 

An Unpublished Chapter in Washington Irving's Life 375 

The Power of Music . 380 

The Contrasts of the Tragedy 382 

Topical and Textual Index, Page 5^5. 



xrv 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

AUTHOR'S PORTRAIT Frontispkce 

THE CHOICE OF HERCULES 35 

Ethel Wright. 
GENERAL GRANT FINDS A LOST CHILD 53 

W. E. Mcars. 
THE GREAT STONE FACE 71 

W. E. Mears. 
A TIN ROOF FOR A BED 89 

IV. E. Mears. 
SAVING THE DAY AT PEKIN 107 

C. D. Williams. 
A SERMON IN A BASKET OF PROVISIONS 125 

W. L. Hudson. 
A MISSIONARY AMONG THE CANNIBALS 143 

C. E. Farrand. 
LINCOLN AND HIS PET PIG 177 

P. L. Hoyt. 

THE LIFE SAVING SERVICE 211 

W. E. Mears. 
THE PRINTING ON THE POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF ... 245 
C. E. farrand. 

LINCOLN PARDONS A SOLDIER CONDEMNED TO DEATH . . 279 

C. E. Farrand. 
A BRAVE MOTHER SAVES HER CHILD 313 

C. E. Farrand. 
JACKSON DECLINES AN INVITATION TO DINNER ... 331 

W. E. Mears. 
THE DYING COLONEL AND THE FLAG 349 

W. C. Rice, Jr. 
THE DEAD STILL WITH US .367 

Ethel Wright. 

XV 




THE SPEAKING OAK 




ELIAS usurped the kingdom of lolchos, and Jason, the young prince 
to whom it rightfully belonged, went to claim it. Pelias promised 
him that if he would secure the Golden Fleece he should have 
his crown. H-e would not undertake the difficult task in his own 
strength, and went to the Speaking Oak of Dodona for divine 
wisdom. The tree was a hundred feet high with a huge shade 
covering an acre of ground. Standing at the base of the tree, and looking 
upward, he asked what steps he was to pursue to secure the Golden Fleece. 
While the rest of the trees of the forest were still, the leaves of this oak rustled, 
and murmuring, they united in one distinct voice, telling him to go to Argus, 
the shipbuilder, and have him construct a huge galley of fifty oars. He was 
uncertain, at first, about the divine authority of his instructions, but learning 
that there was an excellent shipbuilder by that name, he concluded that a heavenly 
voice had spoken. 

At length the great vessel was built, and Jason went back to the oak 
for further instructions. At this time there was one branch whose leaves rustled, 
while the rest of the branches of the tree were still. This quivering branch 
instructed the young prince to cut it ofif, and fashion it into the figure of a 
woman, to be tacked upon the prow of the boat. The branch was cut off and 
given to a turner, who claimed that a superhuman power guided his hand in 
fashioning the figure — so perfect and beautiful it was. The prince, remarking 
that he would have to go back to the oak to learn what next to do, the 
figure at the bow of the ship spoke, and told him that this was unnecessary, as it 
would give him all the wisdom needed to guide him. He asked the figure where 
he should find fifty strong, brave men, each to take an oar for such a perilous 



i8 THE SPEAKING OAK 

journey. It told him to summon the greatest heroes from all parts of Greece, and 
fifty of the most beautiful and brave heroes of Greece gladly volunteered their serv- 
ices. The fifty young men, including the powerful Hercules, struggled with every 
energy to launch the ship, but were unable to move it an inch. It looked as 
though the expedition would fail at the start ; but Jason remembered the fig- 
ure-head at the bow, and asked it what to do. It told the men to take their 
places in the galley, each man at his oar, and to go through the motions of 
rowing, while Orpheus should play on his harp. The men did as they were 
commanded, and at the first strains of the harp the boat began to move, and, 
slipping down into the water, went dancing across the merry waves, keeping 
time to the strains of the melody. In their journey, they were resting upon an 
island one day, when suddenly there fell upon them a shower of steel-pointed 
arrows. They sprang up suddenly, but could discover no enemy, till, pres- 
ently looking upward, they saw a huge flock of birds pulling these steel-pointed 
feathers out of their bodies, and casting them down as arrows. These brave 
men were unable to defend themselves against such foes and they feared that all 
would be destroyed. Their leader ran as fast as he could to the ship, and asked 
the daughter of the Speaking Oak what was to be done. The response came 
that the men should strike their spears against their shields, which they did, 
frightening the dangerous flock away. And all through the journey, whenever 
these young men came to an end of their wisdom and strength, they would consult 
the oaken image, and secure the guidance and power needed in their emergency. 

Upon the threshold of life it would be w^ell for every one to go to the 
Speaking Oak of Dodona and find out what to do. That young man lives too 
near the ground, too low in the realm of animalism, who enters upon any occupa- 
tion, trade, business or profession without first going to God in prayer for guid- 
ance. Many are divinely guided into their calling in life by instincts, inclinations, 
and judgment; all these Jason had, but in entering upon his enormous under- 
taking, he felt the need of an especial spiritual communication. There is no 
young man or young woman who lives, who may not have specific divine guid- 
ance in the selection of his or her life-work, if there be earnest prayer offered. In 
all of the emergencies of life, great or small, all people, young and old, high and 
low, may have divine wisdom to guide, and divine strength to sustain. Even in 
the thing called most trivial, if light from heaven be asked in the right spirit it 
will certainly be given. It is a source of great comfort to every weary traveler, 
and tired workman, to know that there is a voice which will tell which road to take, 
and a hand which will help in the perplexing task. The best thing Jason could 
do was to consult the wooden figure of the Speaking Oak. It is a blessed thing 
that we, like him, children of a King, can consult a Living Figure on a tree, 
whose features are beautiful and whose lips speak the voice of God, whose sacrifice 
makes it possible for us to secure a kingdom infinitely greater than that of 
Pelias and to wear a never-fading: crown. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 19 

A PROFESSIONAL BURGLAR CONVERTED 



WHILE pastor of the Central Church at Newark, N. J., I was conductmg a 
series of meetings. At the close of one of them, a strange man came up 
to me and said, "Are you going home? " " Yes," I said. " Then, if I 
may, I will walk along with you," he rejoined. I consented ; but as a part 
of one of the streets leading to the parsonage was very bad, with its saloons and 
tough customers, I kept my eye pretty well upon the movements of the stranger. 

At last the words that were struggling for utterance found expression, as 
he said : " I am a professional burglar. My partner and I are here in Newark 
' cracking ' houses. I saw the lights in your church and I heard the singing. 
Something, calling me by my first name, said to me : ' Why don't you go in ? ' 
I believe now it was the voice of God speaking to me. I cannot understand 
how I happened to go in, for I have not attended a religious service before in a 
dozen years. God must have put the sermon in your heart to-night, and put it 
there on purpose for me. Every word went home. When you said the num- 
ber of sins or the number of years in sin made no difference to Christ ; that he 
could forgive a million sins as easily as one, and that he could save the worst 
man on earth as easily as the most respectable sinner, I felt that possibly there 
was some hope for me, a thief and a murderer. And when you talked so ten- 
derly about God's love for the most wretched and vile in the death of his Son 
upon the cross, I could not stand it; it melted my heart, and I said to myself, 
' I will never cut another window-pane nor blow open another safe.' And when 
you said, ' It is not necessary for us to wait till next Sabbath, nor till to-morrow 
night, to find the Saviour — not even necessary to wait until the invitation is 
given to come forward to the altar; you can have Christ as your Saviour just 
now, while I am speaking, for the asking and receiving,' just at that moment 
I asked God, for the sake of Christ, to forgive my sins and make me a good 
man. A sweet peace came to my heart, and I believe that then and there I 
became a converted man." 

By this time we had gotten to a shaded spot, not far from the parsonage. 
The night was very still, and no people were near us on the street. Suddenly 
he drew a revolver out of his pocket and pointed it at me. I did not believe the 
man intended to shoot me, but I was pretty sure he intended to take my watch 
if he could. Quick as lightning, I thought what a clever trick to tell such a 
story of conversion and reform. I instinctively clapped my hand on my watch, 
for it had a value far above the gold case and the fine works on the inside ; it 
was a birthday present to me from my sainted father, and I did not intend that 
the burglar should have it without a fight. Instead of demanding my watch, he 
said : '' Take this revolver ; I belong to Christ and shall never need it again." 
Then he took from a pocket some burglar's tools and said : " Take these also. 
I have opened many a window with this, and door with that, and drawer with 



20 THE SPEAKING OAK 

that. I am a Christian man now, and I shall never want to use them again." 
It is easier to form than to reform character. The Christian Church of this 
past century has recognized this fact, and has brought a large proportion of its 
members into the fold through the Sunday School and young people's organiza- 
tions. The work of reforming character, however, must not be forgotten. 
Diflficult though the task may be, there are enough wrecked men redeemed to 
encourage the workers, and more bad men would be saved if more diligent 
efforts were put forth in their behalf. 



GENERAL HARRISON AND HIS LITTLE DAUGHTER 



ENERAL HARRISON, though reserved in his disposition and dignified in 
his bearing, though engaged in the contemplation of great themes, though 
he was justly proud of his ancestry and his promotion, was, within his 
heart, as simple as a child. His devotion to his little daughter, four years 
old, was pathetic. As they passed through New York on their way to the mountains 
to spend the summer, the General and the little girl were often seen playing tag and 
ball in the hotel hall outside of the room, the father enjoying the fun as much as the 
child. They often walked on the streets of Indianapolis together, and the people 
would stop and look at them and say, "What a beautiful picture!" Each 
seemed to be so happy in the company of the other. During the father's last 
illness the litde child went down into the kitchen, and the cook got the ma- 
terials and showed her how to make a little pie. When it was baked she took it 
in her hand and ran up to her father's room, and with joy flashing from her eyes 
she said: "Oh, papa, I've got something nice for you. I made it myself; it 
is going to make you well." The General smiled sweetly at her, but was too 
sick to talk. 

A short time before General Harrison's death, Mr. Fishback, his old law 
partner, died, and the lawyers of Indianapolis assembled in the Federal Court 
room to take suitable action. General Harrison's remarks were brief, eloquent, 
exceedingly pathetic. In closing, he said : " In the dead of the night lately, 
gentlemen of the bar, my little daughter came to me with deep earnestness and 
said, ' Papa, in the big dark of the night I wake up and want to touch you. If 
I don't, I feel lonely.' " The General paused, choked, and with tears fallmg from 
his eyes continued : "I put out mv hand to touch my old friend ; he is gone, and 
I am lonely." In the big dark of a night a nation puts out its hand to touch a 
favorite son, lawyer, orator, statesman, soldier. Christian; he is gone, and there 
is sorrow in the land. In the dark night of affliction, when we put out our hand 
to touch our loved ones and find that they are gone, if we can only touch the 
hand with the nail-print, we will have Divine company in our loneliness. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 21 

LINCOLN, THE LAWYER, ACTS AS A PASTOR 



VISITING Captain Gilbert J. Greene at his home in Washingtonville, N. Y., 
I said : *' Captain, what do you think of Lincoln's religion ? There is evi- 
dence which satisfies me that he was a thoroughly religious man, and a 
Christian." He answered : " You are correct in your opinion. At one 
time in his life he was an unbeliever, and through life he held some religious views 
peculiar to himself, but in the cardinal doctrines of Christianity he was sound. One 
night he said to me, then a boy about nineteen, calling me by my first name,* Gil- 
bert, you have to stand at your printer's case all day and I have to sit all day, let us 
take a walk.' As we walked on the country road out of Springfield he turned 
his eyes to the heavens full of stars, and told me their names and their distance 
from us and the swiftness of their motion. He said the ancients used to arrange 
them so as to make monsters, serpents, animals of one kind or another out 
of them, but said he, ' I never behold them that I do not feel that I am looking 
in the face of God. I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down 
upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up 
into the heavens and say there is no God.' The information and inspiration 
received that night during the walk I shall never forget. 

" To my certain knowledge Lincoln was a faithful student of the Bible. 
There was a copy of the New Testament with a flexible cover which laid on his 
table. I often took it in my hands and examined it. It was worn almost 
through with the rail-splitter's fingers. He once recited to me Christ's Sermon 
on the Mount without making a mistake. He said to me more than once 
that he considered Paul's sermon on Mars' Hill the ablest and most eloquent 
literary production ever spoken by mortal lip, or recorded by human pen. 

" One day he said to me, ' Gilbert, there is a woman dangerously sick living 
fifteen miles out in the country, who has sent for me to come and write her will. 
I should like to have you go along with me ; I would enjoy your company, and 
the trip would be a little recreation for you.' I cheerfully accepted the invi- 
tation. We found the woman worse than we expected. She had only a few 
hours to live. When Lincoln had written the will and it had been signed and 
witnessed, the woman said to him : ' Now I have my affairs for this world ar- 
ranged satisfactorily. I am thankful to say that long before this I have made 
preparation for the other life I am so soon to enter. I sought and found 
Christ as my Saviour, who has been my stay and comfort through the years 
and is now near to me to carry me over the river of death. I do not fear 
death ; I am really glad that my time has come, for loved ones have gone be- 
fore me and I rejoice in the hope of meeting them so soon.' Mr. Lincoln 
said to her, * Your faith in Christ is wise and strong, your hope of a future 
life is blessed. You are to be congratulated on passing through this life so 
usefully and into the future so happily.' She asked him if he would not read 



22 THE SPEAKING OAK 

a few verses out of the Bible to her. They offered him the Book, but he did 
n©t take it, but began reciting from menaory the 23d Psalm, laying especial 
emphasis upon ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort 
me.' Without the Book he took up the first part of the 14th of John. ' In 
my Father's house are many mansions ; if it were not so, I would have told 
you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, 
I will come again, and receive you unto myself.' After he had given these 
and other quotations from the Scriptures he recited several hymns, closing 
with ' Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me.' I thought at the time I had never heard 
any elocutionist speak with such ease or power as he did. I am an old man 
now, but my heart melts as it did then in that death chamber, as I remember 
how, with almost divine pathos, he spoke the last stanza : 

" ' While I draw this fleeting breath, 
When my eyes shall close in death, 
W'hen I soar to worlds unknown, 
And behold Thee on Thy throne, 
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee.' 

" A little while after the woman passed to her reward. As we rode 
home in the buggy, I expressed surprise that he should have acted pastor as 
well as attorney so perfectly, and he replied, ' God and eternity were very near 
to me to-day.' " 

In concluding the interview, I said to Captain Greene, " You have done 
the memory of the martyred President and the Christian public a service in 
opening this new window on the religious side of Lincoln's nature. How- 
ever much the mind may be tempted to doubt, there are times when the heart 
must believe. The religion of the dying woman and of the ministering attor- 
ney is the need of the universal heart and will become the religion of the 
world." 



THE KNIGHT OF THE RED CROSS 

SPENSER in his Faerie Qiiecne, gives a vivid description of the conflict 
between Holiness and Truth on one side and Satan on the other. A hor- 
rible dragon which represents Satan, devastates the territory of a king 
and queen, who take refuge in a brazen tower through fear of him. Una, 
the daughter, who represents Truth, goes to the annual festival of the Faerie Queen 
and asks for a deliverer for her parents and their people. The Queen sends The 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 23 

Knight of the Red Cross, who represents HoHness, and the two return to fight the 
monster. Before he enters the conflict, Una persuades him to repair to the home 
of the damsels Fideha, Speranza and Charissie, or, Faith, Hope and Charity, 
where he is taught the heavenly virtues and is strengthened for the coming 
fray. He goes out to meet the dragon, whose body covers an entire hill, and 
who, half running and half flying, leaps up and charges upon him. With a 
swish of his tail he throws over the horse and rider, but they arise, and the 
Knight wounds his wing. They fight all day, and finally the Knight, stunned 
and longing for death, falls back into a well — the Well of Life, by whose heal- 
ing waters he is strengthened. He arises from his stupor the next morning, 
and is again met by his enemy on the plain. Again they fight all day. The 
Knight cuts off the dragon's leg and otherwise injures him ; but, fatigued 
with the conflict, and faint with the hot breath of the beast, he slips in the mire 
and sinks into a deep sleep. Happily, he falls under the Tree of Life, and a 
healing balm flows from it and recuperates him, so that in his new strength 
he arises and slays the monster. Una joins him, and they rescue the king and 
queen and all their people. 

In the conflict of the soul with Satan, divine power is absolutely necessary 
to secure the victory. The soul will grow faint and be destroyed in the fight, 
unless it be refreshed by the Water of Life, by the Tree of Life. In our struggle 
to save others from the dominion of Satan, we will utterly fail unless we be 
invigorated by the Spirit of the living God. 

^» ^* ^* 

WASHINGTON'S EARLY PROPHECY 



W" HEN a boy fifteen years of age, George Washington wrote this marvelous 
prophecy of himself: " I will command the troop of my colony, win every- 
body's regard, inherit a large fortune, will be called to command the army 
of the country, will be the first soldier of my time, will be called to rule 
over a nation I shall help to create." It seemed as though he were mistaken in his 
prophecy as to matrimony. He fell desperately in love with the "Lowland 
Beauty," and wrote verses to her, and made a proposal of marriage to her, 
which was declined with thanks. She married another man and became the 
grandmother of General Robert E. Lee, Commander-in-Chief of the Confed- 
erate Army. He then became fascinated with a Miss Phillipse, but, while he 
was away fighting the Indians, another man cut him out and married her. But 
the dream of his boyhood was realized at last in his marriage to the widow Custis, 
who was "beautiful, elegant, and wealthy," whom he loved. In every other 
particular, the prophecy of his boyhood was fulfilled. 

The young dream themselves into what they are to be. The plans are 



24 THE SPEAKING OAK 

drawn on the paper before the structure is built on the ground. It is the cas- 
tles of air, after all, that turn into palaces of stone. It is more than likely that 
the Spirit of the Infinite whispered in the ear of George Washington, the boy. 

"V* v» v» 

WELCOMES LEPROSY OUT OF LOVE FOR HER HUSBAND 



AMONG the many instances of heroism which have been recorded, few have 
been more noble than those of Catholic priests and Protestant mission- 
aries who have turned their backs upon everything dear in life, and life 
itself, to minister to the physical and spiritual wants of those confined in 
the leper settlements. A notable instance of this kind of heroism has come to 
recent notice, illustrating the singular devotion of a wife to her husband. Lui Hu- 
lapa, a talented and promising young Hawaiian, married a beautiful native 
girl, with whom he lived happily for five years, when he discovered unmistak- 
able evidences of leprosy in his body. A knowledge of the fact filled his soul 
with horror. Instead of concealing the first hints of the disease, as he might 
have done, his fear of spreading the contagion to the general public, and 
especially to his lovely wife, led him to seek an early removal to a place 
of isolation. His wife earnestly protested against his leaving her, asking the 
privilege of running away with him to some distant island where she might 
live with him until death alone should part them. But he objected to such 
a sacrifice on her part, and hurried away to the leper settlement, from which 
no traveler ever returns. Distracted at her separation from him, she bathed 
herself in the juice of a plant which produced an effect on the body that very 
nearly resembled the disease of leprosy, and presented herself at the Kahili 
station, as a leper. The Board of Examiners, after careful investigation, de- 
cided that she did not have the disease. Then she sent the Board of Health 
the following letter: 

"All the members of the Board of Health will know that I am Luhia, wife 
of Lui Hulapa, leper. I painted myself, and gave myself up as a suspect, with 
the idea that, by so doing, I would be able to enter the leper settlement as the 
nurse for my husband. So, in the apology for what I did, I humbly ask the 
Board of Health to allow me to go to the settlement as a nurse. 

"Your obedient servant, 

"Luhia Lui Hui^apa." 

On inquiry, it was found that an additional nurse could be used, and Hulapa 
is to-day with her husband in Alolokai — a martyr to her devotion to him. 

Wives under sudden impulse have often risked, and even given their lives to 
save their husbands. But here is a woman who deliberately gives herself up to a 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 25 

living death, and that, too, without any possible hope of saving her husband's 
life ; but out of pure affection for him, and a determination to be by his side. 
Life without him was misery to her, and misery with him was joy. All the 
queens do not wear royal robes, nor crowns of gold ; this sublime heroism will 
be crowned with immortality. 

These two Hawaiians are converts to the Christian faith, and will live out 
their lingering life of disease in patience, with the prospect of an everlasting 
companionship. 

V. V v> 

LITTLE SINS 



THE white ant is a destructive little creature, eating most kinds of vegetable 
growth, and boring his way into wood and cutting it to pieces. A gentle- 
man in one of the cities of France gave a dinner, and while the guests 
were at the table the floor gave away, and table, dishes, food, guests, fur- 
niture, and everything in the room fell into the cellar belov/. These white ants had 
eaten into powder the supports of the floor, so silently and swiftly that the accident 
came without any warning. 

So-called little sins have sharp teeth, and cut far into the wood, and dam- 
age the supports of character. It is seldom that a great solitary sin ruins the 
character of a good man. It is the small habits of evil, the secret thoughts, 
and first variations from duty, which, growing, do their work silently and un- 
noticed, and eventually break out into some awful overt act, which shocks the 
tottering structure and throws character and reputation into ruin. The little 
white ants of evil thoughts and first habits are dangerous things to be reckoned 
with. In Africa, the natives have discovered a black ant which takes pleasure 
in killing the white ant, and when the white vandals appear they send out the 
black warriors to put an end to them. The thoughts and little habits of good 
must drive out the evil ones if the character would be preserved. 



GROVER CLEVELAND'S TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM McKINLEY 



o 



N the day of President McKinley's funeral, a memorial service was held 
at Princeton University, in Alexander Hall. President Patton offered 
prayer, and ex-President Cleveland made an address, which was in part 
as follows : 

" He has passed from the public sight, not joyously, bearing the garlands 
and wreaths of his countrymen's approving acclaim, but amid the sobs and 



26 THE SPEAKING OAK 

tears of a mourning nation. He has gone to his home, not the habitation of 
earthly peace and quiet night, with domestic comfort and joy, but to the dark 
and narrow home appointed for all the sons of men, and then to rest until the 
morning light of the Resurrection shall gleam in the East. 

" All our people loved their dead President. His kindly nature and lovable 
traits of character, and his amiable consideration for all about him, will long 
live in the minds and hearts of his countrymen. He loved them in return with 
such patriotism and unselfishness that in this hour of their grief and humiliation 
he would say to them : ' It is God's will ; I am content. If there is a lesson in 
my life or death, let it be taught to those who still live and leave the destiny 
of their country in their keeping.' Let us, then, as our dead is buried out of 
our sight, seek for the lessons and the admonitions that may be suggested by 
the life and death which constitute our theme. 

" First in my thoughts are the lessons to be learned from the career of 
William McKinley by the young men who make up the student body of our 
university. These lessons are not obscure or difficult. They teach the value 
of study and mental training, but they teach more impressively that the road 
to usefulness and to the only succcess worth having, will be missed or lost except 
it is sought and kept by the light of those qualities of the heart, which it is 
sometimes supposed may safely be neglected or subordinated in university sur- 
roundings. This is a great mistake. Study, and study hard, but never let the 
thought enter your mind that study alone, or the greatest possible accumulation 
of learning alone, will lead you to the heights of usefulness and success. The 
man who is universally mourned to-day achieved the highest distinction which 
his great country can confer on any man, and he lived a useful life. He was not 
deficient in education, but with all you will hear of his grand career and his 
services to his country and to his fellow citizens, you will not hear that the high 
plane he reached or what he accomplished was due entirely to his education. 
You will, instead, constantly hear as accounting for his great success that he 
was obedient and affectionate as a son, patriotic and faithful as a soldier, 
honest and upright as a citizen, tender and devoted as a husband, and truthful, 
generous, unselfish, moral and clean in every relation of life. He never thought 
any of those things too weak for his manliness. Make no mistake. Here was 
a most distinguished man, a great man, a useful man — who became distin- 
guished, great and useful because he had, and retained unimpaired, qualities 
of heart which I fear university students sometimes feel like keeping in the 
background or abandoning." 

While Mr. Cleveland did not underestimate Mr. McKinley's intellectual 
ability, but gave him full credit for the possession of a masterly mind, yet he 
showed great wisdom in laying particular emphasis upon the natural and moral 
affections which made him so strong and universally beloved. And there was 
a peculiar timeliness in suggesting the relation of heart-values to earthly success 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 2y 

to the students of a university, for educated young men often feel that the 
affections are a department of their nature considerably below the intellectual, 
and that the highest manliness is secured rather by a suppression of the tender, 
generous, or even religious sympathies, than by the cultivation of them. The 
heart is where a man lives ; it is the place where character dwells. In it there 
are justice, honesty, chastity, fidelity, bravery, devotion and love; these are the 
things that most determine how large a man is to be, what public favor he is 
to secure, and what destiny shall await him in the next world. Mr. Cleveland 
was right in assigning to the tender, affectionate, pure, pious spirit of Mr. 
McKinley, the reason for his greatness and popularity. 

It will be well for all people, old and young, to remember, that while the 
heart is reached by the intellect as a channel, it yet controls the mind, and 
though the will determines conduct, the hand of affection is laid upon its helm 
to guide it. It was what the martyred President loved that made him what he 
was. And so it is with other people; their lives are the measure of their affec- 
tions. 

Our Heavenly Father has recognized this great fact, and has given us a 
religion which appeals to the heart, and has sent the only Son of his bosom 
to bear that message to us, and to impart himself to us as its incarnation. 
Earthly and immortal destiny depends upon the condition of the heart. 



THE POWER OF A BAD BOOK 



M 



ARTIN THORN, who murdered Guildensuppe in so foul a manner, died 
, in the electrical chair in Sing Sing, in expiation of his crime. A little 

b^^S^ time before his execution, he said to the Catholic priest who ministered 
to him at the last : " I was not always bad ; I was a good boy and a good 
man at first. I believed in the Bible, and in God and the future life. I liked the 
company of good people. The fatal mistake of my life was the reading of one of 
Ingersoll's books. I am sorry Robert Ingersoll ever lived. I am sorry that I ever 
read a line of his. The reading of that book was the first step away from 
God and heaven, and my course has been downward ever since, till I have 
come to the blackest crime and am now compelled to face the most disgraceful 
death." 

Thousands of young men can trace the first step away from the God of 
their fathers to the reading of some sceptical book, or the listening to some 
orator as he laughs at the Bible, ridicules Christ, or blasphemes the Creator. 
To destroy a man's faith in God, and the future life, is to take every support 
from under virtue, is to withdraw ever}' bolt from character and leave the soul 
a moral wreck. 



28 THE SPEAKING OAK 

THE MOUNTAIN HIND RECEIVES THE STROKE 



THAT the Grecian arms might be successful against Troy, Iphigenia, at the 
command of the gods, offered herself as a sacrifice upon the altar of her 
country. Not with tears, or regrets, or reproaches, did she go, but with 
calmness and bravery she approached her fate, as she said : *' I give my 
body with a willing heart to die for my country and for the whole land of Greece. 
I pray the gods that ye may prosper, and win the victory in this war, and come 
back safe to your homes. And now let no man touch me, for I will offer my 
neck to the sword with a good heart." 

The great army was gathered in wondering expectation about the altar, 
to witness the sacrifice ; the herald hushed the soldiers into silence, while 
the priest, wreathing the noble brow of the victim with beautiful garlands, offered 
to the goddess Diana the following prayer: 

" Accept 
This victim which the associate troops of Greece, 
And Agamemnon, our imperial chief. 
Present to thee; the unpolluted blood. 
Now from this beauteous virgin's neck to flow, 
Grant that secure our fleets may plough the main, 
And that our arms may lay the rampired walls 
Of Troy in dust." 

When he had finished the prayer, the priest drew a sharp knife, and, mark- 
ing well with his eye the place where he should strike, gave the blow, whose 
sound the soldiers plainly heard, but — strange to say — when they looked for 
the bleeding maiden at the altar, she was nowhere to be seen : she had vanished, 
and at the altar, weltering in its blood, was a large mountain hind, that re- 
ceived the knife that was meant for her. Quicker than lightning, between the 
upraised knife and its fall, the gods took away the virgin to themselves and 
put the hind in her place; whose blood they accepted as an expiation in her 
stead. 

Euripides in this story, expresses the belief which has existed among men 
from the earliest times, that a sacrifice of blood is necessary to atone for sin 
and secure the favor of heaven ; and for one unacquainted with the Holy Scrip- 
tures, he approaches singularly near the account of the sacrifice of Isaac by 
his father. 

The sharpened knife was once raised above Man's head, and as the stroke 
came down it entered the heart of the Spotless Lamb, who died at the altar, 
and whose sacrifice made it possible for man to be forgiven, and translated to 
the society of heaven. 



T 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 29 

GATES AJAR 

HE people of Bloomlngton, Illinois, turned out in a body to attend the 
funeral services of Litta, the celebrated songstress, who was a native of 
that place. The body was taken to the First Methodist Church. The 
building, which was large, was filled, but there were a great many more 
people outside of the building than there were in it. Among the pall-bearers were 
George R. Wendling, Joseph Fifer, afterward Governor of Illinois, and Adlai Stev- 
enson, afterward Vice-President of the United States. The whole altar was one 
garden of flowers. Judge Davis, Ex-President of the United States Senate, had 
sent a large floral piece, " Gates Ajar," which was placed near the coffin. I 
was finishing the funeral address, referring to death as the gateway through 
which the good pass to a better life, when the sun, which had been hidden 
by a thick cloud, came from behind it, and sent its rays through the stained 
glass window of the church upon the "Gates Ajar," painting them with celestial 
beauty ; the beauty of the flowers, and of the colors on the " Gates," and the 
reference to that which they typified in the message, produced a magical effect 
on the audience. It seemed as though heaven was not far away ; the songs 
of the angels not very far distant. 

Death, which to the natural heart seems like the black mouth of a cave, 
to the spiritual vision is a gate of flowers ajar, which the Sun of Righteousness, 
shining through the cross in the stained window, illuminates with the lovely 
hues of paradise. Death is so black and terrible a thing, that, without a hope 
of a life beyond, the soul would be overwhelmed with despair. Christ has 
taught us that, to the good, it is a gateway of flowers resplendent with the 
beauties of another world ; and that heaven, with its flowers and melodies and 
sweet companionships, is not far away from the chamber of death, or from 
the hearts that mourn. 



THE INVENTOR OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH 



PROFESSOR SAMUEL MORSE, the brilliant young painter, sculptor, 
and scholar, became deeply interested in experiments with electro-magnet- 
ism. On the ship Sully, from Havre to New York, the idea of the elec- 
tric telegraph appeared to his mind, and before he landed, he had the 
plans of his instrument all drawn, to the minutest detail, to be used in the applica- 
tion for his patent, and in its practical work. After having spent all his own 
money and as much as he could borrow, in his attempts to operate his machine, as 
a last possible hope he appealed to Congress for help. He asked for $30,000 for 
the construction of a little line from Baltimore to Washington. The last day of the 



30 THE SPEAKING OAK 

session was drawing to a close, and it looked as though Congress would deny 
his request, and he would utterly fail in his project. He went to bed that 
night about heartbroken. At the breakfast table the next morning, a young 
lady congratulated him, and on asking the reason, he learned that the last act 
but one passed by Congress, was to furnish him the money he desired. He 
was so delighted with the news, that he promised the young lady that she 
should send the first message over his wire. And this is the one which she 
sent : " What hath God wrought ?" 

What a difference there was between his feelings in the hotel that night, 
and those he experienced thirty years from that time, in the Academy of Music 
in New York, when a grand reception was given in his honor! Distinguished 
men from all callings were present, and he was enthusiastically praised as one 
of the greatest inventors of the world. The instrument on which he sent his 
first message had been fastened to a wire in the Academy, and during the ex- 
ercises he stepped up to it, and sent the following salutation: "Greeting and 
thanks to the telegraph fraternity throughout the world. Glory to God in 
the highest, on earth peace, good-will to men." 

How appropriate was the first message, "What hath God wrought?" If 
the professor had selected one himself it could not have been more in harmony 
with his spirit. In his intellectual conceptions ; in the aid he secured from 
Congress ; in a hundred other things connected with his practical experiment, 
he felt that he had been divinely led. The Holy Ghost brooded over the in- 
tellect of the nineteenth century, and the marvelous inventions that have mul- 
tiplied the conveniences of civilized living have been the offspring. No devout 
person can look at them and appreciate their worth without saying, " What hath 
God wrought?" 

What an appropriate message was the one sent from the Academy of 
Music ! It was the one which the angels had flashed by wireless telegraphy 
to the humble shepherds. It was the one that had been reported in the first 
communication from England to America over the Atlantic cable. It was the 
one that filled his heart to overflowing as, a man over eighty years old, with 
h.air and beard white as snow, he walked to the instrument a veritable prophet 
of God, and telegraphed : " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, 
good-will to men." 

Professor Morse's great invention has contributed to peace and good-will 
among men, by fastening cities and nations together by closer ties of commerce 
and stronger bonds of friendship. His life of purity, benevolence, and devo- 
tion, did its part to usher in a knowledge of the fatherhood of God and the 
brotherhood of man. There will come a time in the future when the quiver- 
ing wires of earth will be united with the ecstatic wires of heaven in ascrip- 
tions of " Glory to God in the highest," at the fulfilment of the prophecy, 
" peace on earth, good-will to men." 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 31 

SEVERUS AND HIS TWO BAD SOMS 

RAVELERS in the north of England, here and there come upon stones 
which are the ruins of the wall Severus, the Emperor of Rome, built. 
The wall was twelve feet high and eight feet wide, and stretched from 
the German Ocean on the east, to the Solway Firth on the west. The 
motive that led Severus to Britain to undertake the conquest of the Northern 
tribes, was the fact that he had two exceedingly wicked sons, who hated each other 
and were disloyal to their father ; and he thought an expedition to Britain might 
wake them up to a sense of their manhood, and prepare them for the responsibilities 
awaiting them. He left one of his sons with a portion of the army in the southern 
part of the island, and took the other son, with the rest of his command, upon an 
expedition against the Picts and Scots in the north. But his son, Bassianus, who 
accompanied him, was just as depraved as ever; breeding sedition in the camp and 
plotting the overthrow of his father's authority. His plan to murder his father 
being discovered, the father summoned his profligate son to his presence and bit- 
terly rebuked him, then, laying down a keen, unsheathed sword, he said, " If you 
wish to kill me, do it now. Here I stand, old, infirm, and helpless ; you are 
young and strong, and can do it easily. I am ready. Strike the blow." The 
vagabond son did not strike his father with the sword of steel, but continued to 
stab him with the knife of his ingratitude, and the father, discouraged by his 
sons' wickedness and worthlessness, succeeded only partially in conquering the 
tribes of the North, contenting himself with the construction of a huge wall 
across the island. 

Taking into account their abilities and opportunities, history furnishes us 
with few blacker instances of filial disloyalty than that shown by the sons of 
Severus. Supported and educated by their father, they did not realize that they 
were under any obligation to him, or that they owed any duty to themselves ; 
but, perhaps because they were rich and belonged to the royal family, they gave 
themselves up to all kinds of folly, dissipation, shame and crime ; dishonoring 
their father's administration and making wretched his life. He made the admin- 
istration of the greatest empire in the world tributary to a last desperate attempt 
to save, and make something out of his bad boys. He pressed the army and 
navy and treasury of the Roman Empire into service, to make them help him 
reform his wicked sons, but they were so besotted with vice that they were insen- 
sible to their father's love and indifferent to their own opportunities. 

The sons of Severus have had their imitators through all ages to the present, 
and the world is full of them to-day. It does seem as though the sons of the 
rich and famed are subject to greater temptations and surrender to them more 
readily than others. But bad boys are not confined to any class ; they can be 
found in great numbers among the poor as well as the rich. There are no cities 
or towns that are not cursed with some of them. Some are ruined for want of 



32 THE SPEAKING OAK 

parental restraint, and others go to the bad, in these days of terrible temptation, 
in spite of the most careful home training. In fact, it often seems that when the 
parents are most tender and affectionate and self-sacrificing, the children appear 
more heartless and cruel in their ingratitude, and more reckless in their habits. 
As far as the agony is concerned, the sharp sword with wdiich Severus bade his 
son strike him, is merciful in comparison to the daily, hourly stabs that profligate 
sons inflict upon their parents. So many gray hairs are brought in sorrow to 
the grave by these modern sons of Severus ! Young men who forget home, and 
the love and sacrifices of parents, who are blind to their own opportunities and 
privileges, and surrender to base passion and give themselves over to lives of 
evil habit, will have a hard time in this life and a harder one in the life which is 
to come. 



A FLAGMAN CRUSHED TO DEATH, RESCUING A CHILD 



AS I was waiting for a train at the Pennsylvania railroad depot at Pittsburg, 
Pa., I saw here and there groups of people in the street and went over to 
them to find what had happened. The flagman at the corner of Eleventh 
street and Liberty avenue had just been killed. He had been with the 
Pennsylvania railroad thirty-five years, twenty of which had been spent as flagman 
at street crossings. His name was William Cam He never lost a life at his cross- 
ing during all the years of service, and he was known all over Pittsburg as " Faith- 
ful Old Bill." As the Fort Wayne express came rushing along two young ladies, 
accompanied by a child not more than seven years old, started to cross the tracks. 
The flagman, realizing that it was impossible for them to gain the other side 
before the locomotive would reach them, called to them to stop. The two 
women, hearing the signal, looked up, and but a few feet away they saw the 
engine about to strike them. In their fright and consternation they turned back, 
and left the helpless child standing in the middle of the track. The little one was 
so frightened it was unable to move. Carr, quickly realizing the awful fate that 
threatened the helpless girl, threw away his flag and made a leap for the little one. 
Catching her about the waist, he threw her to one side, and stepped back from 
the track just as the big engine brushed by. The heroic watchman, in his ex- 
citement did not notice the approach of an engine on the opposite track, and 
jumped directly in front of it. and his lifeless body was taken out from under the 
wheels. The little girl was picked up from the street where the hero had thrown 
her, and it was found that she was uninjured. She did not say, " A man that has 
been a railroad man for thirty-five years ought to have sense enough to keep out 
of the way of an engine." She did not say, " The man was paid for watching the 
crossing and that is was his duty to do so, and his own bad luck if an accident 
occurred to him." No, she wrung her hands and cried, and said, " I am so sorry 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 33 

that good man got killed. And just think, he died saving my life! I want to 
see him ; take me to him ; I want to kiss him ; the lovely man that died for me." 
The watchman was so horribly mangled that they would not let the little girl 
see him. 

" He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." 
Jesus Christ saved us from death, but in doing so he lost his own life. William 
Carr risked his life in saving the child, but hoped to preserve it ; Jesus rescued us, 
knowing that it would cost him his life to do so. The gratitude and love which 
the little girl had for the heroic flagman, are types of the gratitude and love we 
should have for our Divine Saviour. 



BEND THE HEAD OR STRIKE THE BEAM 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, in a letter to Dr. Mathes, of Boston, says : "The 
last time I saw your father was in the beginning of 1724, when I visited 

him after my first trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his library ; 

and on my taking leave, showed me a shorter way out of the house, 
through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam overhead. We were still 
talking as I withdrew ; he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly toward 
him, when he said hastily, 'Stoop ! Stoop 1' I did not understand him, till I felt my 
head hit against the beam. He was a man who never missed any occasion of giv- 
ing instruction ; and upon this, he said to me, ' You are young, and have the world 
before you, stoop as you go through, and you'll miss many hard thumps.' This 
advice thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use to me ; and I often 
think of it when I see pride mortified, and misfortune brought upon people, by 
carrying their heads too high." 

Over the paths of social life and avenues of the business world, there are 
beams, scattered here and there all along the way, approaching which, people 
who hold their heads very high, must either stoop or get a thump. And the 
streets are full of hats knocked ofif by these obstructions, and of people 
whose heads are covered with bruises because they did not take the precaution 
to bend them. The wicked world will often take a hearty laugh at the ridic- 
ulous manner in which these haughty-headed people run against the beams. 

Little children play a game in which, when an obstruction is approached, 
there is a cry of *' low bridge," and the little ones tuck their heads and go under 
in safety. It would be well if such a lesson of wisdom were to be remembered 
by them through life, especially by those who are to come up into lives of posi- 
tion and wealth. It would be fortunate, if a mashed hat or a bruised head 
were the only penalty of striking the obstruction over the path. Many are 
killed by carrying their heads too high. Most of the States compel railroad 
companies to stretch a line, with strings hanging from it, near both ends of a 



34 THE SPEAKING OAK 

bridge, that the brakemen on the train may have warning and stoop their 
heads, and pass under the bridge in safety; and yet in spite of such warning, 
every now and then a railroad man is hit and killed by a low bridge. Not- 
withstanding the faithful warnings that are given, haughty-headed men and 
women are losing their fortunes, and lives, and souls by striking against the 
beam across the way. 



THE CHOICE OF HERCULES 



T 



HE original " Choice of Hercules " has been lost, but the substance of it has 
been preserved by Xenophon in his Memorabilia of Socrates. Hercules 
was puzzled as to what path he should take in entering life. He repaired 
to a solitude for meditation. While there he saw two female figures of 
lofty stature approaching him. One was of an engaging and graceful mien, with 
elegance of form, modesty of look and sobriety of demeanor, and clad in a 
white robe. The other was fed to fatness and was aided by art in her com- 
plexion, so that she seemed rosier than she really was, and in gesture so that 
she seemed taller than her natural height. The last named one said to him : 
"I see you are hesitating by what path you shall enter life. If you will yield 
yourself to me I will conduct you by a delightful and easy road, and there is 
no fear that I will urge you to procure delights by suffering of body or mind." 
" What is your name ?" he said. " My friends call me Happiness, but those 
who hate me call me Vice." The other female approached, and said : " I 
will not deceive you with promises of pleasure. For of whatever is valuable the 
gods grant nothing except through labor and care." Here Vice interrupting, 
said : " Do you see by how difficult a road she leads you to gratification, while 
I will lead you by an easy path to pleasure." "Wretched being!" rejoined 
Virtue. " What good are you in creation, what happiness can you experience, 
when you are unwilling to do anything for its attainment? You are cast out 
of the society of the gods, and despised by mankind, while I am a companion 
of the gods and associate with virtuous men. There is no honorable deed, human 
or divine, that is done without my sanction. My friends have the richest food 
and sweetest sleep, and when the destined end of life shall come they will not 
lie down in oblivion, but, celebrated in songs of praise, they shall flourish for- 
ever in the memory of mankind. By such a course of conduct, O Hercules, 
son of noble parentage, you may secure the most exalted happiness." 

These maidens are faithful witnesses of the fact that the path of idleness 
is haunted by vice, and that the path of virtue is one of toil. After religion, 
after education, industry is the best safeguard for the young. Thousands, 
every year, take the downward course more from lack of systematic occupation 
than anything else. 




HE SAW TWO FEMALE FIGURES APPROACHING HIM 



(35) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 37 

THE VICTORIAN AGE 



ON January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria died. She was considered in and out 
of the nation as the best and most successful ruler England ever had, 
Macaulay, who was only permitted to live out one-third of her reign, said 
of her, " She is the wiser, greater, happier Elizabeth." Her death 
removed the most conspicuous and potential figure on the face of the earth. After 
the mother of Our Lord, perhaps no woman since the world began ever exerted 
so beneficent an influence upon the hearts and destiny of mankind. How 
much of the sixty-three years of progress to attribute to Victoria, and how 
much to the English people, out of whose loins came a Gladstone and a Tenny- 
son, it is difficult to tell : each deserves a full measure of praise. Only a great 
England could produce a Victoria, and a Victoria could not do other than 
make a greater England. It took between one and two thousand years of ex- 
periment and struggle to make the England of to-day, or its lamented ruler. 
Her rule extended through almost two-thirds of the most wonderful century 
the world has ever known, and she and her loyal people contributed their full 
share to its progress. She saw her sails whiten every sea, her trade mark its 
footprints in every land, her colonies planted in every clime, her missionaries 
toiling in every field. When the sceptre fell from her numb fingers it was 
wielded over one-fourth of the territory, and one-fourth of the population of 
the globe. 

When Victoria became Queen, few people could vote, when she died 
there were few who could not vote. Her greatest strength as a ruler was in 
her weakness, in the limitation of her monarchy. The Parliament which the 
Constitution had thrown about the Crown as a barrier, was, after all, an instru- 
ment of protection and safety. Victoria was so much safer and stronger be- 
cause the House of Lords was in front of her, the House of Commons behind 
her, and the arms of a loyal people around her. She so adjusted herself 
to her privileges and duties, met every question with uncommon sense, was so 
fond of justice, had such a keen sense of righteousness, had such affection for 
her people, was such an ideal wife and mother, was such a devout Christian, 
that the respect of her subjects ripened into adoration. 

The characteristic of Queen Victoria was her Christliness, the characteris- 
tic of the Victorian age was that it was a Christian age. " God alone is 
great." Jesus Christ is the only King. All earthly potentates receive their 
lustre from the brightness of his face, and all true authority from his will and 
love. Queen Victoria fought a good fight, she kept the faith, she has received 
her crown of righteousness. If we be loyal to Christ, the poorest, the hum- 
blest of us will be joint heirs with him, and be elevated to the rulership of an 
empire whose territory shall know no bounds, whose sway shall know no limit, 
and whose enjoyment shall know no end. 



38 THE SPEAKING OAK 

THE FOUNDATION OF THE Y. M. C. A. 



BOUT sixty years ago, a young man went from Somersetshire to London, 
to learn the dry-goods business. He entered as a clerk in the store of 
George Hitchcock, one of the leading business houses of the great capital. 
This young man was intelligent, industrious, honest and polite, he was 
firm in his religious faith, and exceedingly aggressive in evangelical labor. There 
were a hundred other clerks in the store, and chiefly through his personal instru- 
mentality, a majority of them were brought into saving faith and into the Christian 
Church. He organized a prayer-meeting in an upper room of the store. 
The religious fire that started in this place spread to other houses in the same 
line of business. 

The energetic young man who was leader in the movement, invited 
some clerks from the other dry-goods firms of the city to join him in a 
general religious meeting. And in the upstairs room where he had held his 
first meetings, he organized " A Society for Improving the Spiritual Condition of 
Young Men Engaged in the Dry-goods and other Trades." That young man 
was George Williams, and that society of London dry-goods clerks became the 
first Young Men's Christian Association of the world. And now, in fifty-eight 
years, it has grown until its buildings and associations have been established in 
every civilized country, and almost every great city, and in many heathen lands ; 
and its members are numbered by the hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of 
thousands, while its influence for good has been too great for numbers to 
express. That young clerk had not the remotest idea of what would be the 
result of his labor all he wanted to do, and all he tried to do, was to save the 
souls of his feliow-clerks, and in his attempts to do so, "he builded wiser than he 
knew," becoming the founder of one of the most efiicient religious instrumen- 
talities of our time. The dry-goods clerk was promoted step by step until he 
became himself the head of one of the leading business houses in London, and 
now, in wealth and honor, he enjoys a title and place amongst the nobility of 
Great Britain. Unlike many men who decrease in grace as they increase in 
wealth and fame, the advancement of Sir George Williams, in religious growth 
and energy, has kept pace with his promotion and success as a merchant ; with 
his counsel, his labors, and his gifts he has befriended every good enterprise, and 
to this day has maintained the most lively interest in the Association. 

The privilege is allowed to but few to found such an organization as the 
Young Men's Christian Association, but the humblest young man, who does 
duty next to him, and who strives to bring some soul to Christ is doing a work, 
the greatness of which no language can describe, and though no notice may be 
taken of him, and no title of nobility may be bestowed upon him, in the cycles 
of eternity his work will grow into magnitudes which no numbers can compute, 
and no imagination conceive. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 39 

GONERIL AND REGAN, UNDUTIFUL DAUGHTERS 



WHEN King Lear divided his kingdom between his two daughters, it was 
with the express provision that he should make his home with each, by the 
month, ahernately, and that he should be allowed to retain with him a 
hundred attendants. Accordingly, he went first to live with his eldest 
daughter, Goneril ; but before the month was out she complained at the number of 
his servants, and insisted that he should reduce them by one-half. He concluded to 
leave and go to the house of his second daughter, Regan ; but she felt unwilling 
to care for more than twenty-five attendants. In desperation he returned to 
the home of his first daughter, who had said she could accommodate fifty, but she 
had changed her mind, being unwilling that he should have any, and claiming 
that she had servants enough of her own to take care of him. The King, over- 
whelmed by the ingratitude and perfidy of his daughters, went away into the 
night, and into the storm, and said : 

" Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks ! rage ! blow ! 
You cataracts and hurricanes, spout 

Till you have drench'd our steeples, drowned the cocks ! 
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, 
Vaunt couriers of oak-cleaving thunder-bolts, 
Singe my white head ! And thou, all-shaking thunder, 
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world ! 
Crack nature's moulds, all germens spill at once. 
That make ingrateful man ! Spit, fire ! spout, rain ! 
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters: 
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness, 
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children — 
You owe me no subscription ; then let fall 
Your horrible pleasure ; here I stand, your slave, 
A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man : — 
But yet I call you servile ministers, 
That will with two pernicious daughters join, 
Your high-engender'd battles 'gainst a head 
So old and white as this. O ! O ! 'tis foul !" 

Literature furnishes few more graphic descriptions of filial ingratitude and 
injustice than that of these daughters toward their father. He gave them his 
kingdom, with its wealth and power and honor, not when it was dropping out 
of his numb fingers, and he could retain it no longer, but while he was alive ; and 
the only condition he made, they broke before the first month had passed. Is 
it a wonder, then, that the homeless old man went out into the black night and 
the howling storm, a raving maniac. These daughters should have been pleased 



40 THE SPEAKING OAK 

to devote every moment of their time, every ounce of their strength, and, if need 
be, exhaust the entire resources of their reahn, in caring for their father, and 
in making his decHning years happy and comfortable. The quibble about the 
number of attendants was merely an excuse for evading their moral obligations ; 
the trouble with them being, not the number of servants, but the hollowness of 
their own hearts. 

All the ungrateful children did not die when Goneril and Regan passed 
away. There are some to-day, who pay very poor returns for a parent's care 
and love, who treat father and mother not only carelessly, but with positive 
neglect and contempt. There have been parents who, through overweening 
affection for their children, have divided up among them their property, and who 
lived to see these same children grow unkind, unsympathetic and cruel ; betraying 
in every possible way their utter want of filial reverence, piercing with the thorn 
of ingratitude their parents' hearts with the pain of a dozen deaths. 



CORDELIA, THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 



WHEN Cordelia, the third daughter of King Lear, learned how wicked her 
sisters had been in driving their gray-headed father away from their 
homes, and in setting him crazy with their ingratitude, she was filled with 
indignation, and she determined to go to his rescue, to nurse him and 
restore him to his kingdom. Having married the king of France, she summoned 
an army and undertook an expedition for this purpose. She expresses the motive 
of her undertaking in these words : 

" O dear father. 
It is thy business, that I go about ; 
Therefore great France 

My mourning and importunate tears hath pitied. 
No blown ambition doth our arms incite. 
But love, dear love, and my ag'd father's right: 
Soon may I hear and see him !" 

Sending a soldier out to search for her father, he found him wandering in 
the fields, and brought him to the camp. Awaking from a sleep as Cordelia 
came into his presence, he falls upon his knees, and says: 

" Pray, do not mock me, 
I am a very foolish fond old man, 
Fourscore and upward ; and. to deal plainly, 
I fear I am not in my perfect mind. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 41 

Methinks I should know you, 

Yet I am doubtful ; for I am mainly ignorant 

What place this is ; and all the skill I have 

Remembers not these garments ; nor I know not 

Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me ; 

For, as I am a man, I think this lady 

To be my child Cordelia." 

Being convinced that is was she, he continued : 

" If you have poison for me, I will drink it. 
I know you do not love me ; for your sisters 
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: 
You have some cause, they had not. 
You must bear with me, 
Pray you now, forget and forgive ; I am old and foolish." 

His daughter's presence and love had brought his reason back to its 
throne. But in her attempt to restore her father to his authority, she was 
defeated by the army of her sisters, was captured, and executed. The father, 
overcome by the love of Cordelia, whom he at first had mistreated, and by her 
martyrdom in his behalf, sank down with a broken heart and expired. 

From the dark background of the filial ingratitude and injustice of Goneril 
and Regan, Cordelia appears as the beautiful picture of a daughter's loyalty and 
love. All the dutiful daughters did not die with Cordelia. We believe that 
the youngest, rather than the two elder daughters of the king, represents a ma- 
jority of the sons and daughters of this and other civilized countries, that, as a 
rule, they are affectionate and true to father and mother. The nation could 
not live very long if the opposite were the fact. One of the elements of 
longevity in the Chinese Empire has been the reverence of the people for the 
aged, literally fulfiling the commandment that long life shall follow the hon- 
oring of parents. American home life is full of Cordelias; many a daughter 
has declined the hand of a suitor, that she might devote her whole time and at- 
tention to an invalid father or mother. Many women, who have children of 
their own, open their arms wider, to include in their loving embrace an aged 
father or mother, for whose happiness they live. There are sons who have re- 
mained single, that they might be left the freer to take care of invalid or aged 
parents, and where they have married, they have worked the harder to support 
their parents as well as the wife and little ones given to them. Dutiful children 
are the eyes and ears, the feet and hands of the aged. I have seen an old father 
who would die without the presence of the daughter, who has cheerfully given 
her life as a sacrifice for him, and an aged mother who could not live without 
the devoted son who had given his life up largely for her comfort. " Mother, 



42 THE SPEAKING OAK 

take this chair, the one you are in is in a draught, and you will be injured." " Let 
me put this shawl over your shoulders, it is getting a little cold this evening." 
" Your hands are cold, I'll have a fire made for you." " Put up your sewing, 
you have done enough for to-day, those dear old fingers have done enough 
sewing for a life-time, and you never need take another stitch, unless you de- 
sire to." " A friend told me this medicine helped her, and I want you to try it 
for your cough." " Father, you are not eating much breakfast this morning, 
can you suggest anything you would relish ? It will be gotten for you." " We 
will have a walk this morning." " 1 will take you riding this afternoon." 
" Had you not better take a nap? You look tired." " The morning is fair, I 
think you will be able to go to church to-day." " You will be better in the 
morning, dear." " Doctor, cannot you do something for him?" " He is gone! 
O, God! can I live without him?" These are expressions that are constantly 
Heard in the average home of to-day. We congratulate our age, upon the fact 
that the Gonerils and Regans are few, and that the Cordelias are many. 

It is difficult to tell which is the more beautiful picture, the one at the be- 
ginning, or the one at the end of life ; parents with children in their arms, setting 
their feet down upon the highway of life, or children, with invalid or aged 
parents in their arms, kissing their white or wrinkled faces, and bearing them to 
the angels who are waiting to receive them. 



CHRIST'S COMFORT IN AFFLICTION 



AT a Young People's Meeting in Park Avenue Methodist Church. New 
York City, during my pastorate there, they sang, among other hymns, 
"When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there;" at the conclusion of 
which a tall woman, dressed in black, arose and said : " This is the first 
time I have had the courage to speak in any kind of meeting since our great afflic- 
tion, some months ago. My children and I, as was our custom, gathered about the 
piano on Sunday evening, and sang religious hymns. The last one we sang was, 
' When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there.' I then tucked the little ones away 
in bed : that night our house took fire, and four of our darlings were burned 
to death. I have not a word of complaint against God's Providence. ' He 
doeth all things well.' The Holy Spirit is my comforter, and I say from the 
bottom of my heart. ' Thy wall, O Lord, be done.' I thank my Pleavcnly 
Father for letting us keep them as long as we did, and I count myself highly 
honored to have borne those whom Christ through grace divine, should have 
thought worthy to take to himself. I know they live, and I shall see them again 
and I shall have them again. ' When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there.' " 
The little ones burned w'ere grandchildren of Bishop William Taylor. The 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 43 

mother's testimony made a profound impression : it melted everybody into tears. 
The superiority of Christ's consolation to the severest earthly affliction was so 
complete, that it inspired all present with a stronger faith in Christ and a brighter 
hope of heaven. 

v* 'V- v» 

A STRIPE OR A COFFIN 



CUSHING was only twenty-two years of age, and a lieutenant in the United 
States Navy, when, in 1864, he won for himself rank, and enduring 
fame in naval history, by an almost unparalleled act of heroism. 

At that time, and for some prior period, the greatest damage had been 
done to our shipping by the Confederate ram, Albemarle, whose great strength 
had proven her invincibility, in an attack by a whole Federal fleet. The fear of 
the future ruin which it was in her power to accomplish, induced our Government 
to resort to every method toward her destruction, but, up to this time, all in vain. 

Gushing, however, determined to make the hazardous attempt, futile though 
it seemed. He received permission to proceed, and having gathered together a 
volunteer crew of thirteen men in a steam launch, he prepared to leave the fleet, 
then off Roanoke River, on the night of October 27. 

At that time the Albemarle was moored some eight miles up the river, at 
Plymouth, and well guarded from attack, both by a force of soldiers and also by 
many powerful batteries, too formidable for our fleet to face. To guard against 
any secret attempt, a heavy detachment of troops was always near her, and in 
addition she was surrounded by a pen of heavy logs, thirty feet wide. 

Gushing had but little hopes of ever returning from his expedition alive, but 
was determined to succeed in his task at any rate. But he gave no sign of these 
apprehensions regarding his own fate, as he cheerfully bade his friends in the 
fleet farewell, with the words, ''Another stripe or a coffin." 

It was a dark night, and so carefully did he proceed in the launch, that he 
was able to get within a few yards of the ram before being discovered. Then 
broke forth a perfect hail of shot, shell and rifle balls, which fairly riddled his boat ; 
but through all this storm Gushing drove right ahead, and ordering on full 
steam, sent his vessel straight against the logs. So great was the force of impact, 
that the launch forced herself sufficiently over the logs to enable Gushing to 
swing the torpedo boom under the overhang of the ram, and explode the charge ; 
an act which he coolly performed, although but fifteen feet distant from the 
enemy, whose crew were all the time pouring a withering fire upon the little 
handful of men. The explosion was a success ; the ram went to the bottom that 
night. Gushing's work was done, but his own position was most precarious ; 
for the launch was a total wreck, and his enemies all around about pouring down 
upon him their fire. Galling upon the survivors of his crew to save themselves 



44 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the best way they could, he sprang into the river and struck out down stream. 
He swam for nearly a mile, when he just managed to reach the shore, but so 
completely exhausted that he lay for some time on the bank, motionless. At 
last he managed to crawl into a nearby swamp, where he remained in the mire 
until some strength returned to him, when he proceeded to work his way through 
the morass. After many hours' weary toil, he luckily found himself on the banks 
of a creek, where he happily discovered a boat, of which he immediately took 
possession, and pushed off, and by the following night reached an United States 
gunboat near the mouth of the river. 

For this great heroism Gushing received the thanks of Congress, and was 
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Gommander. He did not live long, however, 
after this event, as his exertions in his country's cause had so undermined his 
constitution, that before his thirty-second birthday this ornament to our navy had 
passed from earth. 

It makes one proud of his country and race to read such a story of sublime 
heroism. When he said, "A stripe or a coffin," he meant that he had the am- 
bition which is natural to mortals ; but deeper and better than that ambition, he 
had a love for his country which made him reckless of his own life, to promote 
its welfare. Many heroes take great risk and perish. Lieutenant Gushing took 
the awful risk, and succeeded; but the explosion after all killed him the more 
slowly but surely, and he became one of the martyrs of the Republic. 

Such heroism is constantly manifested in the religious world. There are 
people taking their lives in their own hands in every heathen nation on the globe, 
in their attempts to sink the fleets of moral evil and establish the Kingdom of 
Jesus Ghrist. Some are killed by the "Boxers" ; some are eaten by the canni- 
bals ; others die by a slower process from fevers ; but their places are quickly 
taken by the long line of godly men and women who are willing to dare and 
die for Ghrist. 



THE FATAL TIGER'S CAGE 



ALBERT NEILSON. a lad of sixteen years, was employed to clean the 
cages of the animals of Bostock's Zoological exhibition in the Gyclorama 
Building at Indianapolis. He had just been in the cage with the baby 
lions, playing with and petting them as usual, when, through carelessness 
or rashness, he entered the cage of a dangerous Bengal tiger named Rajah, which 
sprang upon him. biting and tearing him in a fearful manner. Though Frank Bos- 
tock, the manager, was the only one who ever entered that cage, W. F. Tanner and 
"Sam" Stevenson ran to the scene, and entered at the risk of their lives to save the 
boy. They burned Rajah with red-hot irons, and shot seven pistol-balls into his 
body, but he still held on to the boy. At last they thrust a red-hot poker down his 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 45 

throat, and dragged the boy out of the cage ; but not until he had been so in- 
jured that he died on his way to the hospital. The tragedy called out real 
heroism in the two men who fought so hard for the boy's life. 

The reporters of Indianapolis sent over the wires columns of the details of 
the accident, but they had not a word to say about the hundreds of dens in the 
city, where tigers wait to kill the young men who are enticed into them. Cages 
of Bengal tigers are scattered all over most of the cities and towns of our 
country, and they are full of young men who are being slaughtered in body and 
soul. It is high time that more persons hastened to the rescue. 



AN ATHEIST SAVED BY THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE 



WHILE pastor in a Western city, word came to my study that a woman, who 
belonged to my church, was dangerously sick. I hastened to her resi- 
dence. Her husband, who was a bitter sceptic, and her sister were at her 
bedside, when my presence was announced. The husband, speaking to 
his sister-in-law about his wife said : " She is not going to die, and I am not willing 
to have her scared to death by a preacher. If she lives she is good enough, if she 
should chance to die, tliere is no need of the service of a minister, as there is no such 
thing as God or a future life." His sister-in-law said to him : " You can be a 
heathen yourself, but you can not expect the rest of us to be heathens ; you know 
sister is a devoted Christian woman, and would be glad to see her pastor." He said 
grufifly, " Well, let him come up." I went upstairs, knowing nothing of the 
conversation that had introduced me ; talked as tenderly with the sufferer as I 
could and offered an earnest prayer for her restoration, if consistent with the 
Divine Will, and for the presence of the Holy Spirit to comfort her in her 
affliction. That night she died. The following day I called at the residence. 
I was met in the parlor by the husband, who, taking me by the hand, trembled 
like a leaf, and cried like a child. " O pastor," said he, " I am the most 
wretched man in this world. I have no wife ; I have no children ; I have no 
God. I am all alone, and life is an intolerable misery to me." I tfied to calm 
and comfort him with brotherly advice, instruction, and prayer. Returning to 
my study, I fell upon my knees, and asked God to give me a special message 
for the funeral service, w^hich would result in the salvation of the wretched 
man's soul. The evening after the funeral I spent with him alone, in personal 
religious conversation and in earnest prayer. In an agonizing prayer, in 
which he made a full surrender to Christ, peace came to his soul. The burden 
fell off, and his face seemed to shine with a reflection of the upper glory. 
"Things seem so different to me now," he said. 'T have always said that the 
Bible was false. I feel within me now, that it is true. I have denied the exist- 



46 THE SPEAKING OAK 

cnce of God. I feci the presence of God in my heart. I thought it the most 
unreasonable thing to count Christ divine ; in the depths of my soul I feci him 
to be divine. I said there was no other life ; I feel in my heart the presence of 
that other life." He said : " I will tell you a dream I had last night. In it I 
saw my lovely wife, with the face of an angel, riding through the sky in a 
golden chariot of cloud ; she called to me, saying, ' Meet me, O dear, won't you 
meet me?' I called back to her, ' Yes, my darling, I will.' I awoke and found 
my pillow wet with tears, and when you came to-night I felt that God had sent 
you to help me prepare to meet my precious one in heaven." The next Sunday, 
he made an open confession of Christ and imited with our church. 

It often happens that the visit of death to a family awakens the survivors 
from their spiritual slumber ; raises them from their spiritual death. Some will 
not believe in eternity until its tide comes up to the little shores of earth, and 
bears a loved one away from them on its bosom. Some will not believe that 
there is such a place as heaven, until they follow with their eyes the spirits of 
their darlings and see them enter the Gates of Pearl. Some will not believe that 
there is such a person as Christ, until death robs them of all earthly supports and 
they cry out, in the agony of their loneliness, for the only real Being in the uni- 
verse. In the blackest cloud of earthly affliction there often appears the loveliest 
rainbow of promise. 

*^ ^. •,* 

ROSES AND REFORMATION 



THE following beautiful story of the effect of rose culture in reformation has 
come under our eye: 

The assistant superintendent of a Western house of correction says 
that rose culture has developed as a distinctly reformatory factor among 
the women under his care. The discovery of its effectiveness was made by acci- 
dent. His wife, who was matron of the establishment, had a small rose tree of 
which she was very fond. One summer, when a somewhat extended leave of 
absence had been granted her husband, she consigned it, not indeed without many 
misgivings, to the care of one of the committed women whose confidence or interest 
it had seemed impossible to arouse. Patience, gentleness, friendliness, alike fell 
on a wholly unresponsive exterior. The poor soul seemed fairly intelligent, but 
morally dead to any uplifting influence. 

The owner of the rose tree had expected to leave it with a friend whose care 
she knew would equal her own. But the sullen, sodden face of the woman who 
had been so much in her thoughts of late rose before her mind's eye, and on an 
impulse as inexplicable as it was sudden she called her. explained carefully the 
plant's needs and how to meet them, and gave the bush into her keeping. After 
an absence of six weeks or more she returned, to find her rose tree in a most 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 47 

flourishing condition and its keeper with a new light in her eyes, the hint of a 
purpose in her manner, and the dawning of a conscience in her souL 

This gave the superintendent a clew which he was not long in following. It 
was shortly reported that the showing made by the single rose tree was so fine 
that a rose garden for the house was in contemplation. A friend of the institu- 
tion was found who was willing to back the experiment financially. A simple, 
inexpensive, almost crude conservatory was erected and a few dozen of the most 
beautiful varieties of roses were purchased. Then a course of talks, interspersed 
with stories of what roses had done in the world and how they had figured in its 
work, was given. 

Tactfully and unobtrusively close supervision of the work was kept, but the 
whole care of the plants was given to the women themselves. The following 
spring a large plot of ground was appropriated to the purpose, and the women 
still did all the work. This was two or three years ago, and the experiment has 
justified the expenditure of every cent and every efifort devoted to it. 

Two or three other institutions, one for men, have adopted this method of 
employing their inmates, and the promoters of the scheme are hopeful of its 
eventually proving self-supporting through the sale of cut flowers and slips now 
carried on. The moral effect has been beyond their most sanguine expectations. 

We are not surprised at this tender ministry of the flowers ; they are the ex- 
quisite materialization of God's thoughts; they are the reflection of his beauty, 
the expression of his love. Science tells us that, when the earth was preparing 
for the habitation of the race, the few flow^ers that then existed were crude and 
homely, and that they ascended into variety, and put on their robes of beauty, to 
greet the opening eye of man. On nodding stem and waving branch, God has 
hung the blossoms of snowy whiteness and of crimson hues, as expressions of 
his regard for us. He speaks to us in the flowers, and tells us of his love. What 
a beautiful thing it was, to set these red-lipped messengers to tell God's love to 
the wayward. How appropriate to take the rose, which, from earliest times, has 
been the symbol of joy and love, and which to-day in its form, fragrance and hue 
is the expression of love, human and divine, and employ it for the esthetic enjoy- 
ment and moral benefit of the inmates of the institutions ! We can hardly see 
how they could look upon the flower, whose unfolding bud is the symbol of inno- 
cence and purity, without seeing some reflection of absolute beauty, or receiving 
some inclination to a better life. By a law of our nature, we are made like that 
which we look upon ; if we look at the beautiful things, we become beautiful ; if 
at homely things, we become homely. In obedience to this law, the hearts of 
the inmates ought to receive some beauty as they look at and cultivate the roses. 

The vision of God seen in the roses, enjoyable and beneficial as it is, is only 
partial ; is only a hint of the clearer vision of him in the face of his Son. and in 
his blood, which the crimson petals typify. If the wayward will only look at the 
Rose of Sharon steadily enough, they will be reformed ; they will be saved. 



48 THE SPEAKING OAK 

WHAT A CRIPPLED GIRL DID FOR CHRIST 



o 



N readinp: the notice of a Mary Ashton memorial service in the State Street 
Methodist Church of Trenton, N, J., I addressed a letter to the pastor, 
Rev. Frank P. Parkin, D.D., requesting some particulars of the occasion, 
or of the life of the one in whose memory the meeting was held. He sent 
me a leaflet of his, which had been printed in the interest of the missionary society, 
from which I quote : " Mary Ashton was born at Frenchtown and died at her moth- 
er's summer home at Ocean Grove, N. J., August 22, 1899. When a young girl 
she was converted during camp meeting week, in Dr. Ward's tent, at Ocean Grove, 
and on her return to Trenton united with the State Street Methodist Episcopal 
Church of that city. It was in the class meeting that she received her first great 
impulse to give her life in behalf of foreign missions. A few years later she of- 
fered herself to the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, for the work in China. 
After a careful examination the committee was compelled to decline her services, 
on account of her growing deafness and a predisposition to consumption. In 
1885 she met with a terrible accident, by falling through an open hatchway in her 
father's store. She sustained a fracture of the left thigh, which left her a cripple 
for life, and compelled her to walk with a cane. One afternoon, after reading 
that there were 1,500 counties in China without a single missionary, she prayed, 
'O Lord, send me!' Her call to work for China intensified until 1888, when, 
kneeling at her bedside, there came the thought: 'If you cannot go yourself, 
why not support a Bible woman there in your place ? ' The idea took lodgment, 
and she decided to interest fifty friends in the work, asking each to give two cents 
a week for the support of a Bible woman in China. About six months after- 
ward, she undertook, by the same plan, the support of a Bible woman in India. 
In less than a year from that time, while leading a young people's service in her 
own church, on Easter night, she resolved to do greater things for the cause of 
missions. She bought large quantities of paper, ribbons, and other materials, 
at wholesale rates, and made them up into booklets, star-books, bird-books, etc. 
Her greatest source of income came from the ribbon bookmarks, which she 
fringed herself, and had printed on them choice hymns or poems, or scripture 
passages. These she disposed of in large quantities in all parts of the country. 
She devoted her entire time to the work. She denied herself every luxury, and 
her own weekly allowance, given by a fond father, she placed in her missionary 
treasury. When pressed with orders she frequently worked eighteen hours a 
day. On more than one occasion members of her family would discover her 
delicate fingers to be bleeding, from the task of using the fine twine ; but no per- 
suasion could induce her to abandon her labor of love. 

As her income increased she added to the number of missionaries, until, in 
1896, she made by the labor of her own hands $1,560. With this amount she 
supported Miss Clara Collier and Miss Helen R. Galloway in West China ; Miss 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 49 

Allie Linam in Foo-chow ; Miss Lizzie V. Tyron in India, and two Bible women 
— a total of six. 

During the ten painful years in which Mary Ashton, the deaf lame girl, 
was fading away with consumption, she earned, by the work of her own hands, 
$12,500 — every dollar of which she contributed to the support of missionary 
workers, under the direction of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The enterprise of this poor sufferer was so extensive that many orders 
for articles came in after her death, and the year following her pastor re- 
ported to the Annual Conference nearly a thousand dollars as the Mary Ashton 
contribution to the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. The beautiful work 
this heroine began is to be continued by Miss Theodosia Haine, of West Farm- 
ington, Ohio, who has for years been a cripple from hip disease, and who is 
unable to walk. 

Where there is a will there is a way. Where there is intense love obstacles 
must give way. Where there is an overmastering longing for souls, misfortune 
may be turned into fortune, and disabilities may be transmuted by divine alchemy 
into abilities. True royalty consist not in wearing crowns, but in bearing burdens 
and in saving souls. 



PROPER PREPARATION FOR CHURCH SERVICE 



NUMA, the great law-giver, who was one of the most religious men of an- 
tiquity, by his precepts and example turned the attention of the Roman 
kingdom to religion. He determined that the services should result in 
the greatest good to all the worshipers, and insisted that special prepara- 
tion of mind and heart, by meditation and prayer, should be made for them. In 
all public ceremonies and processions of the priests a herald went before, who gave 
notice to the people of the holiday. 

" For, as they tell us, the Pythagoreans would not suffer their disciples to 
pay homage or worship to the gods in a cursory manner, but required them 
to come prepared for it by meditation at home ; so Numa was of opinion that 
his citizens should neither hear nor see any religious service in a light or 
careless way, but, disengaged from other affairs, bring with them that attention 
which an object of such importance required. The streets and ways on such 
occasions were cleaned of clamor, and all manner of noise which attends manual 
labor, that the solemnities might not be disturbed. 

There are many church members to-day who might read the instructions of 
the old king to great advantage. One reason why so much gospel-seed goes to 
waste is, because so many come into the sanctuary with the soil of the heart so 
poorly prepared for its reception. It is possible that some dear old saint, whom 



50 THE SPEAKING OAK 

Satan has almost ceased to tempt, and some singularly spiritual soul will take the 
time or trouble to think about or pray over, on Sunday morning, the church 
services they expect to attend, but a large majority go to the house of God 
thoughtlessly, carelessly, prayerlessly. Some have had a great struggle with 
themselves to get out of bed and dress in time for service ; others lay down with 
great reluctance the Sunday newspaper, with its gaudy pictures and almost 
countless columns ; still others are fretting over some bad luck they have had 
during the past week, or are planning for some good luck in their business, and 
thus they come, with a spirit which makes it almost impossible for any minister to 
preach a good sermon for them. They are better than the people who have so 
little interest that they will not attend the church at all, but only a shade better. 
Numa's plan of meditation and prayer as a preparation for public service, might 
be adopted with profit by the church people of to-day. 



THE STATUE OF A DOG 



THE visitor to Edinburgh, will there be shown a handsome drinking foun- 
tain made of Peterhead granite, and surmounted by a bronze statue of a 
dog. This monument was erected by Lady Burdett-Coutts, to perpetuate 
the memory of a Scotch terrier, whose constancy to his dead master is 
believed to be without a parallel. 

" Bobby " was the name of this dog, and many years ago he belonged to a 
man named Grey, of whom apparently little is known, and whose name would 
have long since been forgotten had it not been kept alive through the virtues of 
his dog. 

The only definite fact connected with Grey's history begins and ends with the 
committal of his body to a humble grave in the Old Greyfriars Churchyard, 
about i860, on which occasion the most conspicuous mourner was his little ter- 
rier. On the day following the funeral, the curator of the burial place found 
" Bobby " lying on his master's grave, and as the presence of dogs in the cemetery 
was against the rules, he was harshly driven forth ; but the next morning the 
faithful animal was again there, and once more was ejected. The third day was 
a very raw and wet one, and when the curator on making his rounds discovered 
"Bobby" shivering with the cold upon the grave, he was so struck with the 
sight of such devotion that he chastised the dumb mourner no more, and let 
him henceforth have his way in peace. 

For over twelve years this faithful animal spent every night upon the grave ; 
let the weather be ever so severe, or storm and tempest rage, nothing availed to 
induce him to forego his vigil of love. 

No want of kind friends did "Bobby" find among the good Scotch folk, and 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 51 

many there were who would gladly have taken him m, and especially upon 
inclement nights would they have housed him from the rough weather; but 
"Bobby" rejected all such kind offers, and both by day and night, clung to that 
sacred spot in the old churchyard. 

Care was, however, taken that he should not starve, and for a considerable 
period. Sergeant Scott of the Engineers allowed him a weekly meal of steaks, 
while for many years he was given daily rations by a Mr. Traill of Edinburgh, to 
whose establishment he went punctually at midday, timing his visits by the sound 
of the time-gun. 

No stone ever marked the grave of Grey, and in time the mound became 
level with the surrounding earth, and the weeds and the grass covered it, but the 
spot, unrecognizable to others, was well known to the faithful sentinel, who 
never failed in his duty until he, too, closed his eyes in death. 

It is a natural thing to see people in the cities of the dead planting flowers, 
crying, and praying over the graves of the loved ones who have gone away from 
them ; but we do not expect a dog to watch a human grave. The constancy of 
"Bobby's" love, which immortalized his master and himself in bronze, is a type 
of the constancy of love which ought to characterize every follower of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 



THE LETTER ''V" ABOVE THE STUDENT'S DOOR 



THERE was a young student who entered Amherst College determined to 
put in his time to best advantage and achieve the highest excellence. He 
painted a letter "V" on a piece of white card-board, and tacked it up over 
the door of his room. The boys thought this act was the freak of a crank, 
and wondered what the letter meant ; some guessing one thing, and some another. 
The placard stayed in its place till the close of his college course. He had out- 
stripped his fellow-students in proficiency and been selected as the valedictorian 
of his class. 

It then dawned upon the minds of his classmates that the " V " meant 
the valedictory, and, on asking him, they found that was the case. He said the 
day he entered college he determined to go to the head of his class, and that he 
put up the letter to remind him constantly of his ambition. That young student 
was Plorace Maynard, the able lawyer and eloquent orator of Tennessee, and the 
competent Postmaster-General of the United States. 

There is nothing of any value done without a great life purpose. The de- 
termination to excel in the material, mental and moral world is a worthy one. 
The letter " V " is not a bad one to tack over the door of the room of any young 



52 THE SPEAKING OAK 

person ; " V," which stands for victory over material difficulties, for victory over 
mental and spiritual foes, for victory over Self; and for virtue, which is manly 
vigor, inspired by divine power. There is a letter which ought to be above the 
door of every heart, as an inspiration for every moment of this earthly existence, 
and that letter is "C," which stands for Christ, for Cross, for Charity. 



GENERAL GRANT FINDS A LOST CHILD 



GENERAL GRANT'S heart was as tender as his will was strong. While 
on a visit to a resort on the Delaware, the child of a widow was lost, and 
all the people in the neighborhood went out into the woods to search. 
Grant among the number. Toward evening the General met the mother, 
who wept bitterly. He said, " Do not cry ; we will find your child." He called the 
people together and said, " I will give a hundred dollars to the man that will find 
the child." Nine others made the same proposition, and a purse of a thousand dol- 
lars was offered. This stirred up the community, and the forest was ablaze with 
lanterns. General Grant, weary and not very well, went to bed. At first he could 
not sleep, so anxious was he about the missing one. At last he fell asleep and 
dreamed that he crossed a marsh, climbed a hill, worked his way through a brier 
thicket, and found the missing child on the hill beyond. So impressed with the 
dream was he that he arose in the morning, went out into the woods, crossed a 
marsh, climbed a hill, worked his way through a brier thicket at the bottom, and on 
the hill beyond he found the little flaxen-haired girl on the ground, asleep, her head 
resting on her arm. The General awoke her, and she looked him in the face, 
and cried, " Mamma." He took the little pet in his arms, and after more than 
an hour's walking, brought her to her home, and he gave the thousand dollars 
to the widow for her support. 

About the time of Lee's surrender. Grant and some of his generals stopped 
overnight at the house of a Methodist minister. A little granddaughter of the 
minister came rushing into the hall, and General Grant caught her in his arms 
and kissed her, saying : " This reminds me of my own little daughter. I wish 
I had her here just now. I am homesick. I want to see my family." 

The great men have the tenderest hearts. General Grant was great in carry- 
ing the poor lost girl in his arms, and in pressing the little Confederate child to 
his heart, as well as in leading the army of his nation. The greatest One who 
ever lived in this world said, " Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and 
forbid them not ; for such is the kingdom of God." " And He took them up in 
His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them." 




HE FOUND THE LITTLE FLAXEN-HAIRED GIRL ON THE GROUND, ASLEEP (53) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 55 

CHRISTIAN HERALD GOSPEL HALL 



REV. G. N. THOMSSEN, an American missionary in India, sent from 
Bapatla a detailed report of a new building, in which Christian teaching 
is daily given to children, and a religious service is held every day of the 
week, which was named The Christian Hkrald Gospel, Hale, in 
recognition of the beneficence of its readers to India in her time of affliction. 

It appears that when the recent famine first began to press on the people of 
that section of the country in which these Baptist brethren are laboring, there 
came to the mission daily, crowds of hungry men and women, begging pitifully 
for a mouthful of food. Happily, through the liberality of American contributors, 
the missionaries were not obliged to turn them away, with the sorrowful and 
truthful answer that they were too poor themselves to afford them any relief. The 
applicants were promptly and cheerfully fed ; but they stayed on, having no 
means of providing for themselves in their villages. Long and painful experi- 
ence had convinced the missionaries that the Asiatic easily adapts himself to a 
life of dependence on charity, and that if he is freely supplied with food he is 
liable to contract a liking for an easy life, in which his daily needs are met with- 
out any effort of his own. After consultation, it was decided, that for their own 
sakes, it would be wise to have all who were able to work, earn the food that 
they needed. There were, of course, the women and children, who were unable 
to work, and they were fed gratuitously, but some employment must be found for 
the able-bodied. At Bapatla it was difficult to find such employment, but finally, 
without any definite purpose, the starving men were set to making bricks. The 
news that any destitute person might find work there, speedily spread, and soon 
there were more applicants than the missionaries ever expected. All were taken 
on until more than half a million bricks were on hand as the result of their labors. 
It was impossible to dispose of such an accumulation, for during that time 
of depression, the building trade, like all others, was stagnant. But the mis- 
sionaries learned that among the vast crowd of men they were thus supporting, 
there were many capable of doing better work than this unskilled service. 
Masons, carpenters, sawyers, blacksmiths, etc., were toiling in the brickyards, 
glad of the opportunity to earn a pittance by an occupation which, in better days, 
they would have despised. A careful examination convinced the missionaries 
that there was a sufficient number of skilled artisans in the crowd to erect a 
building with the aid of their unskilled brethren. A hall for Christian worship 
and teaching was badly needed in Bapatla, and it was now possible to erect it, 
and at the same time support a large number of artisans. Plans were made and 
v/ork begun at once. A plain but commodious edifice was the result of this 
wise benevolence. It contains accommodations for a children's school, for an 
institution for the training of teachers, both under the management of mission- 
aries, and an auditorium for services of preaching and prayer. The influence of 



56 THE SPEAKING OAK 

such a building in a town like Bapatla, will be most beneficent. It will be a 
centre of Christian work and teaching from which old and young will derive 
blessing. It is most gratifying that such a building should bear a name which 
makes it the monument and memorial of the generosity of Christian America. 

The ceremony of dedication will long be remembered in the district. A 
large conference of Baptist missionaries was in session at Bapatla, and many of 
Ihem attended the exercises. The native mind could not but be impressed by 
the cosmopolitan character of Christianity, as shown by the nationalities of the 
men who took part in the service. Besides the American, there were Germans, 
a Russian, a Hollander, a Canadian, a Welshman, a missionary who was born 
in Burma, and another born in Madras. Dr. J. E. Clough, the eminent Baptist 
missionary of Ongole presided. Speeches congratulating the missionaries of 
Bapatla on the new building, and expressing gratitude to the Christian people of 
America for their help in the time of famine, which had made it possible to erect 
it while relieving the starving people, were made by Rev. W. Elmore, Rev. E. 
BuUard, of Kavali, and Miss Day, of Madras, daughter of the noble founder of 
the Telugu Mission. Rev. J. Dussman, of Gurvalla, in the Kistna district, in 
speaking for Germany, referred to the interest Dr. Klopsch had shown in coming 
personally to India, that he might see for himself the suffering of the people and 
report it to his readers, as an eye-witness. 

Rev. J. Curtis, of Kanigiri, who introduced himself as "an Eastern Yankee," 
called attention to the recent unprecedented benevolence of a foreign people to 
another people in time of national calamity, as a thing that made an American 
proud of his country. It showed that the people who had responded to the 
public appeals were a noble, sympathetic, generous race, which could feel 
compassion for sorrow and misery in so distant a land. It was an evidence of 
their greatness and of their pre-eminence in works of love and philanthropy. It 
also proved the power of the Christian spirit, which had never in all history been 
exhibited on a scale so conspicuous and so impressive. Rev. E. Chute, of Pal- 
mur, also spoke on the wonderful work of benevolence. He, as a Canadian, 
was sure that this fund must have received many contributions from his country- 
men. The country was joined to the United States by rivers and lakes, but more 
by that fellowship in Christ which would yet make all the world akin. 

A remarkable speech was made by a high Hindu judge, Mr. V. Cooppoo- 
swamy Iyer, M.A. He referred to the work done by the Christian missionaries 
in distributing the alms of the Christian people of other lands. " We all belong 
to one brotherhood," he said, "but what we of India have neglected to do in feed- 
ing the hungry around us, the Christian people of distant lands have done 
through the Christian missionaries. I confess this to our shame. I welcome the 
opening of this building as a memorial of that wonderful charity, and I rejoice 
that in it our children will receive a moral education." 

Another surprise was an address from a Mohammedan gentleman who was 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 57 

present, Mr. Said ud Deen. He, too, spoke of the great work for India that had 
been wrought by Christian hearts and hands. This, he said, was not all that 
Christians had done for India. The poor women jealously shut up in the zena- 
nas of India had reason to bless the day when the Christian missionaries came to 
India. The Christian ladies of the Lutheran Mission had penetrated those zena- 
nas, and had carried with them not only enlightenment for the mind but healing 
for the body. " This new building," he said, "with all it signifies in its name 
and spirit, has for its foundation not so much the sands of Bapatla as the better, 
broader, more enduring foundation in the hearts of the people of India." 

Thus, from the representatives of three religions and from the workers from 
many lands, The Christian Herald GospEE Haee of Bapatla received hearty 
congratulations and good wishes for its future usefulness. 



GRAVEN ON THE TABLET OF THE HEART 



OME friends of Rev. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler of Brooklyn proposed to 
erect a statue in his honor in Cuyler Park, corner of Fulton street and 
Greene avenue, Brooklyn; to which he objected, in the following note: 

" My Dear Friends : I have just received your kind letter, in 
which you express the desire of yourselves and of several prominent citizens, that 
I would consent to the erection of a 'memorial in Cuyler Park,' to be placed 
there by the voluntary contributions of generous friends here and elsewhere. 
Do not, I entreat you, regard me as indifferent to a proposal whose motive 
affords the most profound and heartfelt gratification. But a work of art in 
bronze or marble (such as has been suggested) that would be creditable to our 
city, would require an outlay of money that I cannot conscientiously consent to 
have expended for the purpose of personal honor rather than of public utility. 

" Several years ago the city authorities honored me by giving my name to 
the attractive plot of ground at the junction of Fulton street and Greene avenue. 
If my most esteemed friend, the Park Commissioner, will kindly have my name 
visibly and permanently affixed to that little park, and will direct that it be always 
kept as bright and beautiful with flowers as it now is, I shall be abundantly 
satisfied. I have been permitted to spend forty-one supremely happy years in this 
city, which I love, and for whose people I have joyfully labored, and, while the 
permanent fruits of these labors remain, I trust that I shall not pass out of all 
affectionate remembrance. The monuments reared by human hands may vanish 
away, but if God has enabled me to engrave my humble name on any loving 
hearts they will be the best memorials, for hearts live on forever." 

Figures of stone and metal representing events and persons, are good for 
people that erect them and for the generations that behold them. They are the 



S8 THE SPEAKING OAK 

just expressions of appreciation of heroic and virtuous deeds, and are object 
lessons for the education of the young. Dr. Cuyler dechned the honor, not 
because he was insensible to the favor of his fellow men, or of their remembrance 
after death. In his note, he expressly stated his sincere appreciation of the 
feeling's that prompted the offer, and his wish to be remembered by his friends. 
He thought that a figure suitable for the place would cost more than should be 
spent for such an ol)ject. With this opinion I do not agree, nor do I think the 
public would have thought such an expenditure extravagant or unwise. Neither 
literature nor art has kept pace with the material progress of this country. A 
few sagacious and benevolent men are doing their best to hasten the pace of 
letters and fine art, but there is very much still to be done. In these days, when 
men do not hesitate to put up hundreds of millions of dollars in business enter- 
prises, there ought to be no hesitation in scattering libraries and beautiful 
statues everywhere. Dr. Cuyler did not object to a memorial, he returned his 
thanks to the commissioners for having named the park after him, he seemed to 
prefer to be remembered in the green of the lawn, the shade of the trees, and in 
the lovely face of the flowers, rather than in mute bronze or stone, and requested 
the commissioners to preserve the park, called by his name, as a perpetual memo- 
rial. The doctor wisely said that the memorials which he prized most were the 
tablets of human hearts on which, by forty years of service for God and humanity, 
he had been permitted to write his name and carve his features. Statues of mar- 
ble that have charmed the world for centuries have been broken to pieces by the 
hammer of the vandal ; figures of bronze that have stood a beauty and inspiration 
for a thousand years, have been battered and ruined, and thrown into the junk- 
shops and melted into practical utensils ; the thin dust that Time has scattered 
through his fingers has covered up most of the monuments of the past. Even the 
pyramids, that lift their haughty heads above the sand and defy the ravages of 
time, will some day be brought down ; already shrewd oblivion has stolen away 
from them the names of the kings they were built to commemorate. But the 
tablet of the heart remains unhurt by the hand of vandalism, unchanged by the 
alchemy of years. Those who work in cloth, work in that which the moth 
destroys ; those who labor in wood, labor in that which the worm grinds to powder 
with ease; those who toil in brass, toil in that which the rust consumes; those 
who work in marble, work in that which Time hammers to pieces with his chisel 
and his mallet ; but those who work in mind — immortal mind ; those who work in 
soul — immortal soul, work in that which shall never fade nor fail, but shall be 
bright and beautiful in the light of Time, and shall grow brighter and more 
beautiful in the glories of Eternity. And when Time shall have dried up the 
seas, and levelled the mountains, and cast the earth away as a worn-out garment ; 
when the stars shall have been chilled into huge balls of ice, or burned to cinders, 
then the tablet of the human heart, with the impressions that kindred spirits have 
left upon it, shall endure forever. 



M 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 59 

FRIENDSHIP OF LEE AND JACKSON 

ILITARY commanders in all times and countries, have usually entertained 
feelings of envy and jealousy toward their rivals. An exception to this 
rule is seen in the singular harmony between Generals Lee and Stonewall 
Jackson. For twenty-five years they had been warm friends, and their 
association at the head of the Confederate campaigns, instead of breeding feelings 
of jealousy, only fastened their hearts together by stronger, sweeter ties. Each 
had such admirable personal qualities, and such a simple, sincere appreciation of 
manly qualities in others, that respect and affection increased every day, until their 
hearts seemed to be one heart, and their lives in unison. Red tape put one over 
the other, but the Confederate people, and the people of the North, considered 
them the double head of the Southern army. In about all the military cam- 
paigns Lee consulted with Jackson as an equal rather than a subordinate, and 
insisted on giving Jackson public credit for about every victory their army won. 
In the heat of the fight at Fredericksburg, Lee said to one of Jackson's staff- 
ofificers, who came to him for orders ; " Say to General Jackson, that he knows 
just as well what to do with the enemy as I do." Jackson had the most exalted 
opinion of Lee's military genius, and insisted that is was Lee's plans instead of his 
own execution which secured whatever victories their army won. He said : 
" General Lee is the only man whom I would follow blindfold." When Jackson 
was wounded, Lee sent him the following word : " Give him my affectionate 
regards, and tell him to make haste and get well, and come back to me as soon 
as he can. He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right." Shortly after, he 
sent his wounded lieutenant the following letter: "I have just received your 
note, informing me that you were wounded. I cannot express my regret at the 
occurrence. Could I have directed events, I should have chosen, for the good 
of the country, to have been disabled in your stead. I congratulate you on the 
victory which is due your skill and energy." The wound, which at first no one 
thought would prove fatal, grew very serious and the gravest apprehension was 
felt about his condition. On being informed that Jackson was likely to die. Lee 
said : " Surely General Jackson must recover ! God will not take him from us, 
now that we need him so much. Surely he will be spared to us in answer to 
many prayers which are offered for him !" Struggling with deepest emotion, 
after silence for a few moments, he continued : " When you return, I trust you 
will find him better. When a suitable occasion offers, give him my love, and tell 
him that I wrestled in prayer for him last night, as I never prayed, I believe for 
myself." Jackson's death almost broke Lee's heart, and neither he nor the 
Southern army ever seemed quite the same after Stonewall Jackson's removal. 
On the death of his trusted companion General Lee issued the following general 
order to the troops : 



6o THE SPEAKING OAK 

" With deep grief, the Commanding General announces to the army the 
death of Lieutenant-General T. J. Jackson, who expired on the loth inst., at a 
quarter-past three p.m. The daring, skill, and energy of this great and good 
soldier, by the decree of an All-wise Providence are now lost to us. But while 
we mourn his death, we feel that his spirit still lives, and will inspire the whole 
army with his indomitable courage and unshaken confidence in God, as our hope 
and strength. Let his name be a watchword to his corps, who have followed 
him to victory on so many fields. Let his officers and soldiers emulate his noble 
example. R. E. Lke, General. 

Lee and Stonewall Jackson were not only great generals, but were great 
men personally ; great in the keenness of their intellectual perceptions ; in the 
warmth of their affections and in the firmness of their faith in God. If they had 
been smaller men they would have been suspicious, envious, jealous, vengeful, 
each a detriment, instead of a help to the other. It was because they were really 
great men that they were so simple and childlike in their love, and so magnani- 
mous in their conduct towards each other. Love is not little or weak, it is the 
grandest thing in the world. 



THE MINISTRY OF SONG 



A LITTLE steamboat crept down the Mississippi River in the time of the 
Civil War, bearing supplies which the Chicago Board of Trade had fur- 
nished to the Sanitary Commission. The boat stopped along the route 
wherever there were any hospitals, and the medicines and delicacies were 
dispensed in a ministry of love. An improvised orchestra was formed to serenade 
the suffering soldiers. While visiting one of these hospitals, a soldier from Iowa 
said to the leading lady singer, " Can't you sing a song for a dying boy? " She 
took a camp stool, and drawing it up to his cot, sat upon it, and holding the boy's 
hand in her's, she began, " Nearer, My God, to Thee !" His large eyes flashed 
with divine lustre, as she finished: 

" Or if, on joyful wing, 
Cleaving the sky. 
Sun, moon and stars forgot, 

Upward I fly. 
Still all my song shall be. 
Nearer, my God. to thee. 
Nearer to thee!" 

The soldiers throughout the ward were crying at the conclusion of the 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 6i 

song. The boy said, " Won't you please sing for me * The Sweet By and By.' " 
And the singer began : 

" There's a land that is fairer than day. 
And by faith we can see it afar, 
For the Father waits over the way. 
To prepare us a dwelling place there." 

This was more than the boy could stand, and he began to weep. Then the 
lady sang, " Sweet Home." By this time about everybody was in tears, some 
covering their faces with their hands, others burying their faces in their pil- 
lows, and sobbing bitterly. The whole hospital resounded with one loud cry, 
and a lively piece had to be sung to keep the mingled feelings of sorrow and 
joy from injuring the patients. 

What a power there is in music, in Christian song. How natural and how 
beautiful it is for a Christian soul, as death approaches, to desire to be near to 
God, and to look out with expectation and joy to the " land that is fairer 
than day." 

Vi ^« ^• 

HEROIC DEED REWARDED 



FRANKLIN B. AINS WORTH is a farmer living at Afton, N. Y. He has 
had to work hard to keep soul and body together. Twenty-five years ago 
he was driving his old buggy along the road, when he heard the shrieks 
of a man drowning in the river. He rushed down the bank, plunged into 
the water, and after a heroic struggle succeeded in bringing the man to shore. The 
man asked Ainsworth what his name was and where he lived. The information 
was given him. Ainsworth did not learn the man's name, but afterwards heard 
that he was spending the summer at a camp near the river. The farmer never 
heard a word from the man he had rescued. A short time ago Ainsworth received 
a letter from a lawyer in Philadelphia, stating that a man had died in that city and 
had left to him his estate, amounting to $80,000, because, twenty-five years before 
he had saved his life. 

Ainsworth's real fortune was not in the money that was left him, but in 
the brave and unselfish deed he performed and in the consciousness that he had 
saved the life of a fellow-man. 

There is a law of compensation, there is a pay-day in the future, when all 
accounts will be settled, when every noble, unselfish deed will receive its rich 
reward. If this man was so grateful to Ainsworth, how much more grateful 
ought we to be to Christ, who saved our life and lost his own in doing so. We 
ought gladly to give him all we possess and all we are for time and eternity. 




62 THE SPEAKING OAK 

KING ALFRED AND THE LAST LOAF OF BREAD 

JURING the Danish invasion of Britain, the forces of King Alfred were at 
one time so scattered by defeat that he was compelled to seek safety in an 
unsettled part of the island, and, disguised as a beggar, to accept the hos- 
pitality of a poor cowherd and live for months in his little hovel. During 
the time they were often but poorly supplied with food, depending chiefly upon the 
game that the king's followers could catch, and frequently in such attempts they 
were unsuccessful. One day Alfred was in the hut with a " mother " who was 
providing for his wants, when a beggar came and asked for food. The "mother" 
replied that there was but one loaf remaining, and if the men should return in 
the evening with the ill success they had recently had there was danger that 
they should all starve. After a moment's hesitation, Alfred directed that half 
the loaf be given to the beggar, saying that the same God who could feed a 
multitude with a few loaves and fishes could supply the wants of his followers. 
Shortly after this Alfred fell asleep, and dreamed that a saint appeared to him 
and told him that God heard his prayers, had witnessed his act of charity and 
would restore him to his kingdom. As a sign of this the huntsmen would return 
laden that night with game. The promises of the dream found ample fulfilment. 
The men returned with an abundance of food. New vigor was inspired within 
them, and before the year was over the Danes had been overpowered and the 
English kingdom established. 

It is a safe thing to give one-half of the last loaf of bread to the poor, 
trusting to a kind, heavenly Father, who has other loaves ready for his obedient 
children. True charity has its own reward, placing the crown of real royalty 
upon the brow of manhood and womanhood, and, according to the Good Book, 
securing through grace divine a crown of everlasting life. 

^ «y. ^« 

CONSTANCY 



SHORT time ago, a religious newspaper offered a valuable prize to the 
person who had the longest unbroken Sunday School record. The offer 
included all the territory of the United States and Canada. Samuel Win- 
terton, of Keyport, N. J., got the prize. He had attended the Sunday 
School of the First Baptist Church of that town seventeen hundred-and-thirty-two 
consecutive days. On Sunday, May 26. 1901, this Sunday School celebrated the 
1,961st Sunday of his attendance. When he was five years of age, he entered 
the school, and has been present at every session since for thirty-eight years. 
Teachers have come and gone, the membership of the school has changed, 
but he has remained. Though he is an excellent Bible student, knowing 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 63 

many passages of Scripture by heart, he has preferred to remain in a class, and 
be taught. He is an expressman, and recently had a bad fall from his wagon ; 
it was feared that his Sunday School record would have to be brought to an end, 
but on the following Sunday, with his broken arm in splints, he appeared in 
his place in the class as usual. Mr. Winterton ought to be thankful for the 
health which has enabled him to hold such a record, and more thankful still for 
the disposition he has had to be so constant to his duty. What a value the 
world puts upon constancy in any department of life ! How invaluable it is in 
the spiritual world ; in the development of the individual character and in the 
establishment of the divine kingdom ! Constancy in the outward observance of 
Christian duty is exceedingly important ; if every member were to attend the 
preaching services, the Sunday School, the prayer meeting, and other means 
of grace, whenever possible, how much better type of Christians, and how much 
thriftier churches we would have. 



STONEWALL JACKSON'S FAITH IN DIVINE PROVIDENCE 



STONEWALL JACKSON was always noted for his personal piety. He 
was a strict Presbyterian and a rigid Calvinist of the extreme old type, 
believing that he would not die until his time should come, and that when 
his time should come he would die. One reason why he was so brave and 
efificient in the field was because he felt that he would not be hurt, and that he was 
bound to win, believing that his will and the Divine Will were united in the pur- 
pose. At the battle of Chancellorsville, General Jackson ordered General Hill to 
arrange his men on either side of the road, and not to fire unless cavalry 
approached from the direction of the foe ; then he went beyond his own picket 
lines to get a view of the position of the enemy. He was warned of the 
danger he was in. " The enemy is routed ; the danger is past," said he to his 
orderly, "' Go back and tell A. P. Hill to press right on." He, riding his " Old 
Sorrel " at a trot, surrounded by his staff, started back in the direction from 
which he had come. His own men, mistaking them for the cavalry of the 
enemy, fired into them, killing or wounding almost all of them. Jackson, himself, 
received two wounds in the left arm and one in the right hand. The enemy 
pressed so closely behind him that they charged over his body as he fell from 
his horse, but as they were driven back again his body was recovered and borne 
from the field. As they were carrying him away one of the litter-bearers was 
shot, causing the general to fall from the men's shoulders to the ground. His 
arm was amputated, but the shock of his injury was so great that he could not 
rally, and amidst the universal lamentation of the Confederate army, and the 
people of the South, the great soldier passed away. In the terrible trial of being 



64 THE SPEAKING OAK 

shot by mistake by his own men, and of being cut off from a cause which he 
loved so intensely and for which he fought so desperately, he manifested the 
calm faith in Divine Providence that he had in the hour of his most brilliant 
victories. During the anxious days when the result of his wounds was in doubt, 
he said, " I consider these wounds a blessing ; they were given for some good 
and wise purpose, and I would not part with them if I could." When it was 
evident that he had but a few hours to live, his wife notified him that his end 
was near, and calmly and tenderly he answered her, " Very good, very good ; it 
is all right." 

It is not very hard to believe in Divine Providence when the sun is shining, 
the flowers blooming, the birds singing, the prospect pleasing ; not very hard 
to trust God when our victorious battalions drive the enemy from the field, 
and the laurel wreath is placed upon our brow. But it is not so easy to recognize 
the Divine Providence when the clouds gather, the flowers are spoiled, the 
song birds hushed, the prospects blighted ; not so easy to count God's will our 
will when our battalions are beaten back by the enemy, and we ourselves 
wounded, and sent to the Shades. Yet every true soldier of the Cross should 
be able to say, in adversity as well as prosperity, " Not my will, but Thine, O 
Lord, be done." 

THE CORPORAL AND THE SCORPION 



I 



N the cemetery at Ewingville, N, J., was buried the body of Corporal 
Joseph Byrnes. The following singular incident has been related about 
this man. 

Joe Byrnes, a farmer-boy, living near Trenton Junction, N. J., hav- 
ing enlisted in the Spanish-American War, and having seen no real fighting in it, 
thinking he would find the service he desired, enlisted in Company H, of the 
27th Regiment, known as Colonel Bell's Tigers, and went with his regiment to 
the Philippines. One day, just before regimental parade, the captain of his 
company called the corporals together, and said: 

" There's a spare pair of sergeant's chevrons in my tent, and I propose to 
hand them to one of you corporals after this review. It is my intention to give 
these chevrons to the corporal who maintains the finest file, whose file looks 
neatest, and the corporal who personally maintains throughout the review the 
best position of a soldier. Return to your street and make ready, corporals." 

"Assembly ! " was sounded, and after the men were told oflF Company H 
marched to its position in the first battalion, and off the regiment went to the 
reviewing grounds to join the brigade. Company H was on the right of the 
regimental line, and when the grounds selected for the review were reached 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 65 

the company was posted by the adjutant in a clear enough space, but at a dis- 
tance of a few feet was a rock surrounded by a clump of thick scrub. Joe had 
thrown his eyes to the right to see that his men were in good shape and had 
taken the position of a soldier. For probably five minutes the men stood at 
attention, not a muscle moving. 

" Joe ! Look !" whispered Martin Reynolds, who stood elbow to elbow with 
Corporal Byrnes. 

" Silence !" commanded Corporal Byrnes in a whisper. 

Reynolds began to tremble, and Joe could see out of the corner of his eye 
that Reynolds was deadly pale. 

" Quick, Joe ! Look ! There comes a scorpion out from that rock and 
brush directly toward you," again whispered Reynolds. 

" Silence, sir ! I've been watching him," replied Corporal Byrnes. 

" For your own sake, Joe, move ! He's coming directly toward your leg," 
pleaded Reynolds. 

" Silence, I say," was the only reply of the corporal, given in a low whisper. 

Slowly the deadly scorpion came dragging its elongated body through the 
grass. Nearer it came to Corporal Byrnes, but not a muscle of his face moved, 
although his eyes were following the deadly scorpion. 

Closer and closer came the hideous creature till it reached the silent 
corporal's foot. Joe knew the scorpion's sting probably meant death or at least 
tarantism. Private Reynolds began to sway in the line, and just as the scorpion 
seized Corporal Byrnes' shoe in his two pairs of claws, preparatory to using his 
telum or sting, and injecting his deadly venom in Joe's foot, Reynolds fell 
to the ground in a dead faint. 

Corporal Byrnes alone of the entire regiment knew what the matter was 
with Private Reynolds, but the corporal stirred not a muscle of his body. A 
hushed, even tread of four feet coming from the rear at double-quick was heard 
over the grass, and the stretcher-bearers placed Reynolds on the stretcher. 

Corporal Byrnes remembered he had a rent in his khaki trousers just at his 
leggin's top. He felt the scorpion seize his shoe in its claws — just as Reynolds 
fell. Now he could feel the scorpion wriggling and turning, with his quick, jerky 
motion, and dragging his long, thin body up his trousers leg. Now he was at 
the leggin's top, Joe could tell by his touch. Now he had stopped. 

" I hope he don't find that hole in my breeches," said Joe, half to himself, 
half aloud, as he stood as rigid as a young oak, 

" Moses ! He's got it !" he added, almost in the next breath, as he felt the 
little animal's slimy body, partly dragged, partly wriggling through the rent in 
his trousers. 

" He's crawling up my bare leg ! My, he's slimy ; " murmured the cor- 
poral. 

The corporal knew that to move or excite the scorpion meant to be stung. 



66 THE SPEAKING OAK 

He alvSo knew that to be stung meant death ; at the best the poison injected by 
the venomous scorpion into his blood would almost instantly produce tarantism. 

Slowly the scorpion crawled and dragged himself beneath the trousers up 
the corporal's leg. " Could he get out of the hole in my khaki trousers even 
though he should turn and go back?" thought Joe. 

"HI move he will surely sting," he reflected. 

Suddenly the general and his staff galloped to take up their positions for 
the review. 

The bugle sounded : " Forward !" 

The band struck up " Dixie." 

" Mark time ! Mark !" came the command. 

With clock-like regularity the 400 pairs of feet in the battalion moved 
silently an inch to and fro, raised a quarter of an inch from the earth and then 
dropped back to the earth again — every pair of feet but one. That silent pair 
of feet belonged to Corporal Joe Byrnes. For him to move probably meant 
his death. To remain silent certainly meant to lose the sergeant's chevrons. 

Instantly the captain noticed Joe's rigidity and he shot him a quick, sharp 
glance and made an impatient motion with his sword, intending to call to 
Corporal Byrnes to mark time. 

" Can't," was all Joe said, and he was only heard by the private next to 
him. That same instant the bugle sounded. 

" Forward ! Column right ! March !" 

As if hinged upon a gate-post and worked automatically, the 27th swung 
off into line — all but one soldier — Corporal Byrnes. 

As if riveted to the spot. Corporal Byrnes stood alone in the clearing, in 
the position of a soldier, while his regiment made the circle past the mounted 
reviewing oflficers. The tall corporal, standing out alone, was the most con- 
spicuous man on the field, and General Lawton, noticing him, remarked to his 
major-doctor that there was " something wrong with that soldier. Look at his 
admirable pose. Major, you ride over and learn his difficulty," added the 
general. 

The surgeon-major approached Joe, but the corporal gave no salute. The 
surgeon could see at a glance that something was wrong, for Joe was deathly 
pale. Joe had been assigned to brigade headquarters for duty the week pre- 
vious, and the major recognized him. 

" What's the matter ? " cried the major, quickly dismounting. 

" Don't come any closer, major," said Joe, quietly. " There's a scorpion up 
my leg, and if you disturb him he'll sting me. Don't come closer, please, major." 

"Good heavens, you don't mean it!" said the major, quickly turning to 
his saddle-bag and seizing his kit. 

" There's a rent in my khaki through which he crawled, and he's now 
crawling on my thigh, major," added Corporal Byrnes, never moving a muscle. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 67 

" Stand fast, lad ! Stand fast ! Don't move and I'll save you," said the 
major, approaching Joe steathily, a pair of slender-bladed scissors in his hand. 
*' Where is he now ?" 

" Just above the leggin's top, sir." 

" Ah, here it is. Stand fast now, corporal. I'll not disturb him, and in 
a jiffy the major had cut the trousers leg all around at the knee. 

" He's starting down my leg, major. Look out for him," said the cor- 
poral quietly. 

" Don't move, corporal, for if he stings you'll either die or have the St. Vitus's 
dance and " 

" There he goes ! There, he's out ! " shouted the major, interrupting him- 
self, as the scorpion, with that animal's peculiar hop, jumped from Corporal 
Byrnes' leggin's top. 

But Joe did not hear the major. He had fallen in a faint to the ground, 
and soon the stretcher-bearers laid him beside Private Martin Reynolds. 

"Is he dead? Was he stung by that scorpion?" shouted Reynolds, when 
Joe was carried to the rear. 

"I saw the scorpion approach him, major; I saw him crawling up his leg, 
and Joe saw him, too, but he wouldn't move. He wanted to win the sergeant's 
chevrons the captain promised. He'd a' won the chevrons, major, only for the 
scorpion." 

And when General Lawton heard the surgeon-major's story of why the 
corporal stood fast in the field, and Reynolds' story of Byrnes' risking the scor- 
pion's sting for a sergeant's chevrons, he sent for the captain of Company H. 

" Captain," said the general. " I wish you would give Corporal Byrnes 
those sergeant's chevrons. He's fairly earned them." 

" It's too late, general. I've handed them to a corporal who followed his 
regiment, sir." 

And so Corporal Joe Byrnes came home a corporal and died a corporal, of 
typhoid fever, but his comrades love to tell the story of how he took the chance 
of a scorpion's death-sting to win a sergeant's chevrons. 

In every calling of life there are barriers to progress ; promotion can only 
be had by a triumph over many hindrances. In military life the perils seem to 
be multiplied almost wnthout number. Heat, cold, rain, hard fare, fever, bullets 
of the enemy, the scorpion under the rock, all are watching for the life of the 
soldier and trying to keep him from his stripes. Even after poor "Joe" Byrnes 
had risked the sting of the serpent in his desire to do his duty and win his 
promotion, the typhoid fever caught him and brought him to his end. 

In the great battle of life, when the serpents of Moral Evil threaten de- 
struction, it would be well if men would be as calm and brave as Corporal Joe 
Byrnes was when the scorpion crawled upon his body. 



68 THE SPEAKING OAK 

THE GIAMTS WITH SIX ARMS HAD BUT ONE HEART 



THE Argonauts landed upon a certain island, and the king, Cizycus, gave 
them a banquet, but they noticed that the king's face was sad, and, asking 
the reason, the king told them that there was a race of giants inhabiting 
a neighboring mountain, who pillaged his country, killed many of his 
subjects, and greatly disturbed his peace of mind. When the visitors were about 
to leave the next day, these giants rushed down from the mountain to destroy them. 
They had such long legs that they covered a hundred yards at a stride ; each 
one had six long arms, one to hurl a stone, another to wield a sword, a third to 
thrust a spear, a fourth to use a club, and the other two to shoot an arrow. 
Though these giants had six arms, they had but one heart, and that possessing 
only the strength of an ordinary man. But the Greeks were all heroes, each 
having the courage of half a dozen ordinary men, and not fearing the huge 
giants, with their long limbs and many arms and formidable weapons, rushed 
upon them, killing some of them, and putting the rest to ignominious flight. 

In the conflict of life, it is not the size of the body, length of the limbs, 
number of arms, or variety of weapons, but bravery, manhood, which tells. 
The Latin word we translate "man" is vir, strength, valor, from which we take 
our word virtue. It was the highest ambition of these heroes to have this 
strength, valor, manhood, and neither the giants nor any other earthly power 
were ever able successfully to resist them. It is the heart of the man behind the 
weapon that is the measure of its victory. 

In spiritual conflicts, although there are foes, huge-bodied, long-limbed, many- 
armed, and malignant in their design, the heart that is full of strength, valor, 
manhood, virtue, need not fear to encounter such an enemy — it is sure of victory. 
But the natural heart can have no such strength, it must have a new birth, by 
divine grace, before it can have the power to overcome the forces of moral evil. 
Even then there must be the inbreathing and continual indwelling of the Holy 
Spirit in that heart to enable it to slay or put to flight the evil giants that resist it. 

^. ^. ^ 

THE SONG '' NINETY AND NINE" 



AT the East Northfield Conference of 1900, Mr. Sankey told this incident: 
Mr. Moody and I were riding in a railway carriage in Scotland, and I 
read aloud to him a little poem that had caught my eye in the corner of 
the paper, and I had cut out for my scrap-book. We went to the great 
assembly hall of Edinburgh. It was in May, 1874. Mr. Moody and a number of 
others spoke that morning on the subject "The Good Shepherd." The last speaker 
was Dr. Horatius Bonnar. He spoke so softly and kindly that we could feel the 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 69 

presence of the Good Shepherd in our hearts. When he got through, Mr. Moody 
stepped down to where I was sitting and asked me if I had anything appropriate 
to sing. I could not think of anything but the twenty-third Psalm, and that 
had been sung three times before during the service. All at once the impression 
came to me to sing that little hymn I found on the train. But that was fol- 
lowed by the thought " How can I sing without a tune ?" Yet the impression 
came back to sing the song. I opened my book to where I had placed the 
little hymn and drew my thoughts away from the crowd. I uttered a short 
prayer to God to help me to sing in such a way that the people could hear 
and understand me. I started in on A flat, and God gave me the notes as I 
went along. I got through the first verse all right, but the thought came again, 
" How am I going to get through the next ?" I uttered a silent prayer to God 
again, and he answered me. I got through the second all right. And by the 
time I got to the fifth verse I knew the tune, and the " Ninety and Nine " was 
born. From that day to this not a note has been changed. 

Few hymns have brought more souls to Christ than Sankey's " Ninety and 
Nine." There is no such mockery nor injury to an evangelical service as the 
cold, mechanical mouthing of sacred songs by spiritless lips, and nothing more 
beautiful or helpful to the service than the hearty singing of songs born of and 
breathed by the Holy Spirit. 



THE GREAT STONE FACE 



^ ATHANIEL HAWTHORNE has told the beautiful story of the Great 
iN Stone Face. A little boy was playing about the door of a cottage in the 
vale and fastened his eye on a place in the mountain that looked like a 
human face. It was a huge figure, with forehead a hundred feet high 
and the rest of the head in proportion. The name of the boy was Earnest. His 
mother told him that there was a prophecy that some one in the neighborhood was 
to grow up to be the ideal character, and that in manhood he should resemble the 
face in the mountain at which he was looking. She said the Indians first told the 
prophecy and said that the mountain streams murmured, and the winds in the tree- 
tops whispered to them the prophecy. There was a rumor that the man promised 
had appeared. A man born in the valley had gone out into a foreign land and had 
become a successful merchant. The frozen North and the torrid climes poured 
their treasures into his lap. He owned a fleet of ships, and had accumulated more 
wealth than he could count in a hundred years. He returned to his native place to 
spend the rest of his days. On the site of his father's farmhouse, where he was 
born, he erected a superb marble palace and furnished it at a fabulous cost. 
Every one said this was the ideal man. Earnest was walking on the road one 



70 THE SPEAKING OAK 

day, and the millionaire came along riding in his carriage drawn by four horses. 
The man had his face half out of the carriage window. He was a little man with 
low forehead, small, sharp eyes, and a wrinkled skin as yellow as saffron. As he 
rode by Earnest looked at him, and then down the valley at the sublime, benign 
features in the mountain, and said, " This man is not the image of the Great 
Stone Face." The man lost his wealth, and with it many of the friends who had 
admired and flattered him, and the people wondered why they had ever thought 
that the little man, with a narrow spirit and a cold heart, was the ideal citizen 
promised. 

Years passed by, a native of the village went to war and became a great 
general. Weary and disabled by wounds he retired from service to his boy- 
hood home. The people gave him a great reception and banquet in the woods. 
An arch was made festooned with laurel. In the speeches that were made they 
said that to a hair he resembled the Stone Face, that he w^as the old man of the 
mountain in a looking-glass. The crowd was so great that Earnest could not 
get a look at him till the banquet was over and the General arose to speak. 
Earnest saw in his features strong will and courage, but they seemed cold and 
harsh, and casting his eye toward the mountain and the beautiful stone face there, 
he said to himself, "He does not look like it; he is not the man promised." 
Earnest by this time had grown into middle life and had continued his simple 
calling of a farmer. Another young man had gone out from the neighborhood, 
not with purse or sword but a marvellously eloquent tongue. He became a 
statesman and a candidate for the Presidency. The people gave him a great 
reception. The soldiers were out, the band played, the farmers in their Sunday 
clothes rode horseback. The people were wild in their enthusiasm. The big 
banner had a picture of the statesman and one of the Great Stone Face side by 
side. The people all said the similarity was complete. As he passed by in a car- 
riage drawn by four white horses. Earnest looked at him and said, " What a mas- 
sive brow, what a superb countenance, but there is too much ambition, too much 
self there, too little gentleness, too little love," and as he turned his eye to the 
lovely features of the man in the mountain he said, " He does not look like it ; he 
is not the ideal man promised." 

Earnest had now grown to be an old, gray-haired man. A brilliant young 
man had gone from the village to the great city and had become a famous poet. 
His native mountains often towered in his verses above the spires of the city, A 
copy of his poems fell into the hands of Earnest, and he was charmed 
with them, especially the one on the Great Stone Face. And he said, " One 
who can write such sublime and divine verses must be the image of the Stone 
Face, and one for whom the generations have longed." Earnest, though but a 
simple farmer, by his simplicity, his wisdom, his virtue and his love had become 
known and admired far beyond the boundaries of his native valley. The poet of 
the great city came out to his country home to see him and learn of him. He 




THK POKT AXU Till: OLD MAX WALKED AR:\I IX AR:\I 



(71) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 73 

found the old man reading a copy of his poems, and introducing himself to him 
said : " You think I am the image of the stone face, the ideal man ; you are mis- 
taken. My life is not as lofty or beautiful as my song; I am not worthy of the 
honor you bestow." Earnest had an appointment to speak to the people of the 
village that evening, and the poet and the old man walked arm in arm to the 
place of meeting out of doors. His address was so simple, so wise, so pure and 
so tender, that the poet said he was a prophet, and looking down the valley at the 
Great Stone Face, lighted up gloriously by the rays of the setting sun, he said : 
" Earnest is the exact image, he is the ideal man promised." And the people 
agreed that he was the most truly great man in all the land. The old man mod- 
estly protested, and said that the ideal man would appear some day. 

The reason why Earnest became like the Stone Face in the mountain was, 
that from the time he was a little boy he looked upon and admired it. Day by 
day, hour by hour, he kept his eye and his heart upon it. Another reason why 
his face was so beautiful, was that he seemed to talk with the angels, and their 
delicate fingers fashioned his features into comeliness. 

The most beautiful face the world has ever seen stands out in bold relief 
from Mount Calvary, and those who become like him are ideal men and women. 
And they become like him by looking constantly upon him and loving him. And 
they become like him because they whisper to the Eternal Spirit whose invisible 
fingers fashion their spiritual features into the image of their Elder Brother and 
Heavenlv Father. 



EVERY MAN HAS HIS PLACE 



^ 



I 



N our boyhood we frequently went hunting through the woods. We were 
looking for quails in the dead grass, and for squirrels in the trees. We 
took two dogs along to find the game ; a little black dog which was called 
Jack, for squirrels, and a handsome pointer called Dan, for the birds. We 
had considerable difficulty in holding the dogs in, at the proper time; every now 
and then Jack would slip away from us in the field, and, catching the scent or the 
sight of the birds, would pursue them and get them out of range of the 
guns ; and Dan, feeling unusually gay, would break away from us in the woods, 
and in his wide ranges would scare every squirrel within a quarter of a mile 
of us, into the top of the highest tree; now and then he would come to a 
full stand on the track a squirrel had made some time before. So it was with 
considerable skill and patience that we kept each dog undisturbed, on his own 
territory. If Jack found the trail he followed it quickly until he had sent 
the squirrel up a tree, when he gave a short bark if we were near, and 
several louder barks if we were some distance away, to indicate to us the fact 



74 THE SPEAKING OAK 

that he had found and imprisoned the game. I do not recall his ever fooling 
us. When we came to the field, Dan covered every inch of the ground, first 
going to one side and then to the other. When he came near to the birds he 
went cautiously, and still more cautiously till he came to a stand; with eyes set, 
tail rigid, and body immovable as a statue. At a word of command, he took 
a step or two, and up went the birds and our opportunity for the shot came. 
After all the shots had been made that were possible on the one point, he went 
after the dead and wounded birds, and brought them in. Jack was a fool in 
the field with the birds, Dan had no sense in the woods with the squirrels, 
but each was an expert in his own territory. 

Every dog has his place ; so has every man, if he can find it. Many men 
do find it, and are useful and happy ; many are a misfit, and are neither suc- 
cessful nor happy. They are the black Jacks, trying in vain to catch quails ; they 
are the Dans, having as little success in hunting squirrels. There are pro- 
fessional men who ought to be merchants and mechanics, and z'ice versa. The God 
that made one dog to hunt animals with feathers and another to hunt those 
with fur, will by human instinct, reason, affection, and the direction of the Holy. 
Spirit, lead his children out into that occupation where they will have the 
largest happiness and usefulness. 

Every person has his place in the kingdom of God, in practical church 
work. The failure to recognize this individual adaptation to spiritual work, 
results in a lack of efficiency and of true success. Every true minister of the 
Gospel is called unerringly to his sacred task ; every child of God is called to 
some specific work, for which he has peculiar adaptation, and he will have the 
aid of the Holy Spirit in the selection and prosecution of his work, if he will 
only ask for it. 



PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ON THE BIBLE 



AT a memorable meeting of the Long Island Bible Society, held in the Pres- 
byterian Church at Oyster Bay, June ii, 1901, Vice-President Roose- 
velt made an able address on " The Bible," which could be read to advan- 
tage by every one old or young in the United States. The address is as 
follows : 

There are certain truths which are so very true that we call them truisms; 
and yet I think we often half forget them in practice. Every thinking man 
when he thinks, realizes what a very large number of people tend to forget, that 
the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic 
and social life that it would be literally — I do not mean figuratively, I mean 
literally — impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 75 

teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we 
now judge both public and private morals ; all the standards toward which we, 
with more or less of resolution strive to raise ourselves, x\lmost every man 
who has by his life-work added to the sum of human achievement of which the 
race is proud, of which our people are proud, almost every such man has 
based his life-work largely upon the teachings of the Bible. Sometimes it was 
done unconsciously, more often consciously, and among the very greatest men 
a disproportionately large number have been diligent and close students of the 
Bible at first hand. Lincoln, sad, patient, kindly Lincoln, who after bearing 
upon his weary shoulders for four years a greater burden than that borne by 
any other man of the nineteenth century, laid down his life for the people, 
whom living he had served so well — built up his entire reading upon his early 
study of the Bible. He had mastered it absolutely ; mastered it as later he 
mastered only one or two other books, notably Shakespeare ; mastered it, so that 
he became almost "a man of one book," who knew that book, and who instinc- 
tively put into practice what he had been taught therein ; and he left his life as 
part of the crowning work of the century that has just closed. 

In this country we rightly pride ourselves upon our systems of widespread 
popular education. We most emphatically do right to pride ourselves upon it. 
It is not merely of inestimable advantage to us ; it lies at the root of our power 
of self-government. But it is not sufficient in itself. We must cultivate the 
mind; but it is not enough only to cultivate the mind. With education of the 
mind must go the spiritual teaching, which will make us turn the trained intel- 
lect to good account. A man whose intellect has been educated, while at the 
same time his moral education has been neglected, is only the more dangerous 
to the community because of the exceptional additional power which he has 
acquired. Surely what I am saying needs no proof; surely the mere statement 
of it is enough, that education must be education of the heart and conscience 
no less than of the mind. 

It is an admirable thing, a most necessary thing, to have a sound body. It 
is an even better thing to have a sound mind. But infinitely better than either 
is to have that, for the lack of which neither a sound mind nor a sound body 
can atone — character. Character is in the long-run the decisive factor in the life 
of individuals and of nations alike. 

Sometimes in rightly putting the stress that we do upon intelligence, we 
forget the fact that there is something that counts more. It is a good thing to 
be clever, to be able and smart ; but it is a better thing to have the qualities 
that find their expression in the Decalogue and the Golden Rule. It is a good 
and necessary thing to be intelligent ; it is a better thing to be straight and 
decent and fearless. It was a Yale professor, Mr. Lounsberry, who remarked 
that his experience in the class-room had taught him " the infinite capacity of 
the human mind to withstand the introduction of knowledge." Some of you 



76 THE SPEAKING OAK 

preachers must often feel the same way about the abiHty of mankind to with- 
stand the introduction of elementary decency and morality. 

A man must be honest in the first place ; but that by itself is not enough. 
No matter how good a man is, if he is timid he cannot accomplish much in 
the world. There is only a very circumscribed sphere of usefulness for the 
timid good man. 

So, besides being honest, a man has got to have courage, too. And these 
two together are not enough. No matter how brave and honest he is, if he is 
a natural born fool, you can do little with him. Remember the order in which 
I name them. Honesty first ; then courage ; then brains. And all are indis- 
pensable; we have no room in a healthy community for either the knave, the 
fool, the weakling, or the coward. 

You may look through the Bible from cover to cover and nowhere will you 
find a line that can be construed into an apology for the man of brains who 
sins against the light. On the contrary, in the Bible, taking that as a guide, 
you wall find that because much has been given to you much will be expected 
from you ; and a heavier condemnation is to be visited upon the able man who 
goes wrong, than upon his weaker brother who cannot do the harm that the 
other does, because it is not in him to do it. 

So I plead, not merely for training of the mind, but for the moral and 
spiritual training of the home and the church ; the moral and spiritual training that 
have always been found in, and that have ever accompanied the study of, this book ; 
this book, which in almost every civilized tongue can be described as " The 
Book," with the certainty of all understanding you when you so describe it. 

The teaching of the Bible to children is, of course, a matter of especial 
interest to those of us who have families — and, incidentally, I wish to express 
my profound belief in large families. Older folks often fail to realize how readily 
a child will grasp a little askew something they do not take the trouble to 
explain. We cannot be too careful in seeing that the biblical learning is not 
merely an affair of rote, so that the child may understand what it is being 
taught. And, by the way, I earnestly hope that you will never make your chil- 
dren learn parts of the Bible as punishment. Do you not know families where 
this is done ? For instance : " You have been a bad child — learn a chapter of 
Isaiah." And the child learns it as a disagreeable task, and in his mind that 
splendid and lofty poem and prophecy is forever afterward associated with an 
uncomfortable feeling of disgrace. I hope you will not make your children 
learn the Bible in that way, for you can devise no surer method of making a child 
revolt against all the wonderful beauty and truth of Holy Writ. 

Probably there it not a mother or a school-teacher here who could not, out 
of her own experience, give instance after instance of the queer twists that the 
little minds give to what seem to us perfectly simple sentences. Now, I would 
make a very strong plea for each of us to try and see that the child understands 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES -jj 

what the words mean. I do not think that it is ordinarily necessary to explain 
the simple and beautiful stories of the Bible ; children understand readily the 
lessons taught therein ; but I do think it necessary to see that they really have 
a clear idea of what each sentence means, what the words mean. 

Probably some of my hearers remember the old Madison Square Presby- 
terian Church in New York when it was under the ministry of Dr. Adams, and 
those of you who remember the doctor will, I think, agree with me that he was 
one of those very rare men with whose name one instinctively tends to couple 
the adjective " saintly." I attended his church when I was a little boy. The 
good doctor had a small grandson, and it was accidentally discovered that the little 
fellow felt a great terror of entering the church when it was vacant. After vain 
attempts to find out exactly what his reasons were, it happened late one after- 
noon that the doctor went to the church with him on some errand. They 
reached the pulpit he said, " Grandpa, where is the zeal?" " The what?" asked 
Dr. Adams. " The zeal," repeated the little boy ; " why, don't you know, ' the 
little boy clasping the doctor's hand and gazing anxiously about. When they 
walked down the aisle together, their steps echoing in the vacant building, the 
zeal of thine house hath eaten me up ?' " You can imagine the doctor's aston- 
ishment when he found that this sentence had sunk deep into his little grand- 
son's mind as a description of some terrific monster which haunted the inside 
of churches. 

The immense moral influence of the Bible, though of course infinitely the 
most important, is not the only power it has for good. In addition there is 
the unceasing influence it exerts on the side of good taste, of good literature, 
of proper sense of proportion, of simple and straightforward writing and 
thinking. 

This is not a small matter in an age where there is a tendency to read much 
that, even if not actually harmful on moral grounds, is yet injurious, because it 
represents slipshod, slovenly thought and work ; not the kind of serious thought, 
of serious expression, which we like to see in anything that goes into the fibre 
of our character. 

The Bible does not teach us to shirk difficulties, but to overcome them. 
That is a lesson that each one of us who has children is bound in honor to 
teach these children if he or she expects to see them become fitted to play the 
part of men and women in our world. 

Again, I want you to think of your neighbors, of the people you know. 
Don't you, each one of you, know some man (I am sorry to say, perhaps more 
often, some woman) who gives life an unhealthy turn for children by trying to 
spare them in the present the very things which would train them to do strong 
work in the future? Such conduct is not kindness. It is shortsightedness and 
selfishness ; it means merely that the man or woman shrinks from the little 
inconveniences, to himself or herself, of making the child fit itself to be a p-ood 



78 THE SPEAKING OAK 

and strong man or woman hereafter. There should be the deepest and truest 
love for tlieir children in the hearts of all fathers and mothers. Without such 
love there is nothing but black despair for the family ; but the love must respect 
both itself and the one beloved. It is not true love to invite future disaster 
by weak indulgence for the moment. 

What is true affection for a boy? To bring him up so that nothing rough 
ever touches him, and at twenty-one turn him out into the world with a moral 
nature that turns black and blue in great bruises at the least shock from any 
one of the forces of evil with which he is bound to come in contact? Is that 
kindness ? Indeed, it is not. Bring up your boys with both love and wisdom ; 
and turn them out as men, strong-limbed, clear-eyed, stout-hearted, clean- 
minded, able to hold their own in this great world of work and strife and cease- 
less effort. 

If we read the Bible aright, we read a book which teaches us to go forth 
and do the work of the Lord ; to do the work of the Lord in the world as we 
find it ; to try to make things better in this world, even if only a little better, 
because we have lived in it. That kind of work can be done only by the man 
who is neither a weakling nor a coward ; by the man who in the fullest sense 
of the word is a true Christian, like Great Heart, Bunyan's hero. We plead for 
a closer and wider and deeper study of the Bible, so that our people may be 
in fact as well as in theory " doers of the Word and not hearers only." 

What a splendid specimen of Christian manhood President Roosevelt has 
proven himself to be! It speaks well for the Republic, that our rulers are so 
pronounced in their faith in the Bible and profession of the Christian religion. 



UNDYING FRIENDSHIP 

DIANA, who caused a mountain hind to receive the knife that was meant for 
Iphigenia, seized her miraculously from the altar, and, carrying her to 
the land of the Taurians, appointed her priestess of the temple. A Gre- 
cian young man, who had committed a crime, was pursued by the Furies. 
He went from place to place in his vain attempt to escape their rage, when Apollo 
promised him relief upon the condition that he would go to the territory of the 
Taurians, get the image of Artemis, and return with it to Argos. A friend of 
his, intimate from earliest childhood, accompanied him in the merciful but 
perilous undertaking. Reaching the shore, they approached the temple, but 
finding the walls so high, and the gates so secure, they became discouraged 
and came near taking their ships for home. They determined, however, to 
hide in a cave some distance from the sea, and at night attempt to break into 



the temple, and secure the image. Native herdsmen discovered them, and being 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 79 

so tall and so fair some of the people thought they were gods and worshiped 
them. Others laughed at the idea of their divinity, and said that they had 
hidden in the cave knowing that the law of the land visited death upon strangers 
found within its bounds. The two brave men, with swords, at first resisted 
successfully the natives, but afterward they were overcome and carried before 
the king, Thoas, who gave them over to the priestess of Diana for slaughter. 
Seeing that they were Greeks, she told them she was of their nation and had 
long desired to send a message back to her people, which a captive had cut 
out for her on a tablet of wood. She told these young men that one could go 
and take the tablet, and escape, and that the other should remain and die. The 
priestess selected the one who had been pursued by the Furies to take the 
tablet, and his companion for slaughter. But the young man who was to go 
said, " I am the cause of all the trouble ; this dear friend has accompanied me 
out of the kindness of his heart, and it would be base of me, indeed, to suffer 
him to perish in my stead. He must go, and I will die." His companion 
positively refused to go, and insisted upon remaining for sacrifice, while his 
friend should return and live. While the men were engaged in a dialogue, in 
which each showed his willingness to remain and die and his unwillingness to 
go and live, Iphigenia, w4io had withdrawn herself for the search, returned with 
the tablet in her hand, which contained the following message : 

" To My Brother Orestes, Son of Agamemnon: 

" I that was sacrificed in Aubis, even Iphigenia who am alive, yet dead to 
my people, bid thee fetch me before I die, to Argos, from a strange land, taking 
me from the altar that is red with the blood of strangers, whereat I serve." 

She gave it to the young man who had been selected to go, and whose 
name was Pylades, and bound him with an oath. Taking it from her, he said: 
" My oath is easy to keep." Then turning to his companion, who was ready 
for slaughter, said : " Orestes, take thou this tablet from thy sister." Orestes, 
with surprise and delight received the message, and embraced his long-lost 
sister, the priestess Iphigenia. At first she hesitated to believe so strange a 
story, until Orestes had thoroughly identified himself ; then securing the image, 
for which the men had come, she now ran with them to their ship, and sailed 
away with them for their native land. The Taurians were so impressed with 
the devotion of these Grecian young men to each other, that they built temples 
in their honor and worshiped Orestes and Pylades as the Gods of Friendship. 

The Old and the New Testaments, which contain descriptions of the bad 
as well as the good side of human nature, present many instances of this devo- 
tion of friend to friend. The friendship of Orestes and Pylades reminds us of 
the love Christ had for his apostles, and the love all but one of them had for 
him. He gave his life for them, and most of them laid down their lives for 
him. iMany of the disciples of Christ, from his time till the present, have copied 



So THE SPEAKING OAK 

this beautiful example of brotherly love. Every hour of the day, in every rank, 
however conspicuous or obscure, there are instances of this undying friendship of 
one for another, which add immeasurably to the beauty, charm and hope of 
mankind. 



A SOUND HEART 

N the royal gallery at Versailles hangs an equestrian portrait of one of the 
early marshals of France. He is represented with one wooden leg in the 
stirrup ; one coat-sleeve is empty, and one eye is covered by a patch to 
conceal its loss. Over the painting is an inscription containing his name, 
and these memorable words : 

" He scattered everywhere his limbs and his glory. His blood was in a 
hundred places the price of his victory, and the warfare in which he was engaged 
left nothing sound about him but his heart." 

In the great battle of life, no matter how much a man may be cut or shot 
to pieces by the weapons of misfortune, he will be a royal hero if he will only 
keep his heart sound. 



A BLIND MAN WHO SAW 







I 



REMEMBER that once our collie, in language quite plain to us, told U3 
that there were strangers on the premises. I went out of the door and 
found workingmen, who had come to repair the stone flagging in front of 
the church and parsonage. One of the number was making chips fly, 
cutting away a root which had lifted up the pavement. I said to him : " My 
friend, are you not afraid that it will injure the tree to cut off so large a root? " 
He answered, " No, it has a million roots, and it will not miss the one I am taking 
away." 

My son said, " That blind man yonder is the contractor, it might be a 
good thing to speak to him about it." I went over to him, and had not exchanged 
two sentences with him before I forgot the root and the tree, so deeply interested 
did I become in the skill and enterprise of the man himself. I asked him how he 
got along in the stone-paving business, disabled as he was. He answered: "Any 
kind of an occupation to a blind man is an uphill business, but he will get up 
the hill if he will climb hard enough. The way I get along in my business 
is to use the sight of the men I employ. I have as many eyes as those of the 
men that work for me. It would hardly do to let them know I could not get 
along without them, for then they would put up the price of wages on me and 
I would have to go out of the business, and hence I use all kinds of good- 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 8r 

humored tact in availing myself of the benefit of their sight." Continuing, he 
said : " I would not trade shoes with lots of people I meet on the street ; they see 
some things I do not, but I see a good many things they do not." Suspecting 
what he meant, I thought I would draw him out a little. I asked him what things 
he saw that escaped the notice of others. He replied : " For instance, mental 
things. Being blind, I am thrown back on my other organs, which are com- 
pelled to do the work of the missing one. I see a good many things through 
my ears. I can tell a man by his voice. I can tell a tall man and a short man, 
a smart man and a dull man, and, more times than you would think, a good 
man and a bad man, by the tone and quality of the voice and the manner 
in which it is handled. After three minutes talk, I have as good an estimate 
of a man's character as those who have their sight could have. I also see 
through my feet. That foot of mine knows a good deal. I never think of 
touching my hand to a stone to determine the accuracy of its position. I have 
trained my feet so well that not a man who works for me can tell when the 
stone is in its exact place so quickly as I can, by standing on it. My foot is 
pretty nearly as accurate as a level, in laying the pavement. What I meant by 
saying I would not trade shoes with many I meet is this, that they are mentally 
asleep ; that they will not use the faculties they have, while I, with the loss of 
one faculty, have to work harder for the knowledge I have, and the additional 
exercise of the brain strengthens it. There are other people I pass on the 
street who do not see morally ; they do not distinguish between their money 
and somebody else's, or between their rights and those of others ; they do not 
see the tired face of a hungry widow, nor the bare feet of an orphan boy. I 
take a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that I see these things, and try 
to govern my life accordingly. 

" It is true, of course, that many people who go by me, will not run into 
an iron lamp-post, as I do sometimes, but they will run up against moral lamp- 
posts, that stun them, and throw them sprawling into the gutter; and the 
strange thing is that they will continue to run up against these posts each day 
till they have knocked out their brains and their life. Many who pass me on 
the street do not see spiritually ; they do not see any Being behind the flowers 
and trees and stars. They have never seen the Man on the tree who died for 
us, nor the Other Person who walks by the good man's side ; they have never 
had any vision of any other world but this. I see God and Christ and the 
Holy Spirit, and Heaven ; I claim I have the light from above. I know I have 
it, and," continued the blind man, " the vision of these unseen things makes me 
very happy." 

I was so entertained with his words, that I asked him to sit down on the 
church steps and tell me something about himself. He said, " My name is 
Frank Wolven ; my partner and I are in the stone-paving business." " Were 
you always blind?" I asked. "No, sir," he replied; "we lived in the country. 



B2 THE SPEAKING OAK 

and my father, who was in the stone business, was loading a blast, which was 
exploded by accident, by a spark from a stroke of the crow-bar. Pieces of 
stone struck both eyes, putting them entirely out ; a small piece also went into 
my forehead, which you can feel now if you will put your finger on it. I was 
then twelve years old ; being a country boy, I had never seen a blind person in 
my life. In the old Lauder's Primer I had seen the picture of a blind man 
led by his dog, for whom I had always felt very sorry. I was taken to the 
best specialists in New York City, who could do nothing for me, and sent me 
back to the country. Two years later I went to an institution for the blind in 
New York. 

" Afterwards, for eight or ten years, I followed the business of piano tuning, 
spending part of the time in a large factory. I can take any piano 
apart, even to the removal of the smallest screw, and put it together again. 
Then I went into the stone business, in which I was at first unsuccessful. I 
think it does a man good, that it wakes him up, to get bitten a time or two at 
the start ; I profited by the lesson of my misfortune, and am getting along very 
nicely now." 

I said : " My friend, it is more than likely that our Heavenly Father did 
you the greatest possible kindness in taking away your eyes, that he has shut 
you in, on a world of truth, beauty, and goodness, which you might have missed 
if they had been spared, and that you will behold more beautiful things in the 
next world than would ever have been revealed to you if your natural sight 
had been preserved." 

To the Christian, misfortune is often the greatest fortune, and total blind- 
ness the most perfect vision. God often has to hang a curtain to shut out the 
visible, that his children may be able to see the invisible. 

^. V> «y. 

UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE 



ALFRED A. DUNHAM, a retired architect, and his wife, called one day at 
the parsonage of Rev. Dr. L. W. Allen, of the South Park Presbyterian 
Church, of Newark, N. J. They spent some little time in speaking of 
temporal and spiritual matters. The ill health of Mrs. Dunham was a 
source of great concern to her husband. The minister suggested that the three 
kneel down and ofifer prayer for the restoration of Mrs. Dunham's health. They 
did so, and while they prayed, Mr. Dunham fell over on the floor dead. A stroke 
of apoplexy caused his death. 

If a man be ready a sudden death is no calamity, it is only a chariot with 
horses of swifter feet, or angels with swifter wing to convey him to his palace 
and his throne. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 83 

PROFESSOR MORSE AS A CHRISTIAN 

ROFESSOR SAMUEL MORSE was as faithful and efficient as a Chris- 
tian as he was conspicuous as an inventor. His success in life under 
great difficulties was another illustration of the fact that the children of 
ministers usually turn out well. Being thoroughly indoctrinated in a 
Christian home, he early entered upon the earnest discharge of religious duties. He 
took a special interest in the spiritual tuition of the young, becoming superintendent 
of one of the first Sunday Schools in America. While he taught fine art in the 
recitation room, he taught, by precept and example, the highest art of noble living. 
He was a conspicuous and potential member of the Madison Square Presbyterian 
Church, of New York City, being constant in his attendance at the church 
services, and taking as deep interest in the temporal and spiritual success of the 
charge as the pastor himself. His personal knowledge of God was very distinct, 
and his consciousness of an indwelling Christ was exceedingly precious to him. 
At about the time the world was showering its honors upon him, he nestled 
up to the heart of his pastor to say to him, that the favor of Christ was so 
much better than the praise of kings. At the close of the solemn communion 
service, one Sabbath morning, he took the hand of the pastor, and with voice 
trembling with deep emotion that filled his soul, said: " O, this is something 
better and greater than standing before princes." He felt that he had had 
audience with the King of kings, and that seated at the table with his Lord, 
he had been fed upon the Bread of Life. The love of God, in the death of Christ, 
gave him the sweetest enjoyment and divinest inspiration a mortal can have in 
this world. He was always of a generous disposition ; even when he was 
struggling with poverty, he divided his scanty income with the Church of Christ 
and with the general causes of Charity. The first money he ever earned by his 
new invention was forty-seven dollars, which was his share of the right to use 
his instrument in the communication between the Post Office and the National 
Observatory in Washington, every penny of which he sent to the Rev. Dr. 
Sproll, as a thank-ofifering to God, to be used for Church purposes. This 
was the first sheaf of ripe wheat which was waved before the Lord, as a pledge 
that the harvest belonged to him. And as his financial ability increased, his 
benevolences were multiplied in every direction. While he was in Paris he 
took quite an interest in the American Chapel there, and subscribed the first 
thousand dollars to lift the debt upon it. 

As might have been expected, his old age was sweet in contentment, 
beautiful in the advancement of Christian graces, glorious in the hope of 
immortality. He read his Bible constantly, prayed unceasingly, and revelled 
in the consciousness of Christ's presence, and in the prospect of Heaven. He 
said : " I love to V^e studying the Guide-book of the country to which I am 
going; I wish to know more and more about it." A little while before he died. 



§4 THE SPEAKING OAK 

his pastor reminded him of God's special goodness to him through his eventful 
life, and he responded : " Yes ; so good, so good, and the best part of all is 
yet to come." 

It is a beautiful thing to see a character so symmetrically developed as 
that of Professor Morse. There are some men of genius, who are so engaged 
with the material forms and forces that they do not reach the spiritual Person- 
ality behind them. Their intellects grow to be large, but their religious natures 
remain very small. They become great scholars, artists, scientists, discoverers, 
but are very small Christians. There are others, whose study of nature brings 
them closer to the Author of Nature, and as they become great scholars, artists, 
scientists, inventors, they grow to be correspondingly great in their Christian 
character and experience. It is impossible to calculate the religious influence of 
men thus splendidly equipped in their intellectual powers ; who advance in divine 
favor as they grow in earthly honor, who pay a due regard to the realities 
of the next life, while they busy themselves with the practical concerns of this 
one. The great inventor, while he handled the subtle current, and made it do 
his bidding, saw to it that his own spirit was constantly charged with the 
electric current of love divine ; and while he spoke in a flash of lightning, to 
cities, and to distant continents and islands of the sea, he whispered perpetually 
in the ear of the Absolute and received continual messages in return from Him. 

*^ ^ ^« 

LINCOLN AND THE LITTLE NEGRO GIRL 

WAS fishing in a little boat on a lonely lake in northern Michigan one sum- 
mer day. The sky was blue, the air invigorating, the scenery wild and 
exquisitely beautiful. My companion was a retired merchant of Detroit. 
We had caught forty or fifty pounds of splendid fish, richly hued and 
fierce with the line. There was a pause in the biting, and we had time to talk. I 
said to him ; '* Mr. Gray, I understood you to say that you were from Illinois." 
" Yes, I lived in that State," he replied. " In what part? " " In Springfield," he 
answered. " Did you know Mr. Lincoln ? " "I should think I did," he said. 
" He and I were warm personal friends. We were playing hand-ball together 
against the side of a store at the very time a messenger came to tell him they 
were balloting for him for the Presidency in Chicago. He said, ' Boys, it is 
time for me to quit,' and went back to his ofifice." 

" Mr. Gray," I asked, " can you tell me some incident connected with Mr. 
Lincoln for whose truthfulness you can vouch, which has not found its way into 
any magazines or books? " He said : " I do not think this one has been printed. 
I was cashier of one of the banks of Springfield, and Lincoln came into the bank 
one morning convulsed with laughter. He came up to my window and said 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 85 

to me, ' Do you want to hear a good joke on me? ' ' Yes,' I answered. ' Well, 
as I came from my office here I saw a little girl going to school. She was 
drenched with the terrible storm, and was standing on the corner unable to 
cross the street, which was flooded with water more than ankle deep. Her back 
was to me, and I put my hands under her arms, and, wading across the street, 
I set her down safely on the other side. As I did so, I reached around and 
kissed her cheek, and as she turned to thank me for my kindness, I discovered 
that she was a little nigger.' Lincoln broke out into a hearty laugh again. 

" I have thought so many times since, that Lincoln helping the little colored 
schoolgirl over the flooded street in Springfield was the type and prophecy 
of Lincoln carrying four millions of the same race over the Red Sea." 

A six-pound beauty struck my hook, and we had no more time for Lincoln 
stories, nor anything else except the task at hand. 



BALMORAL 



S children were born to her, and as the responsibilities of office increased. 
Queen Victoria felt the need of a country home, removed from the press 



and the noise of the busy throng, a home where she might take off her 
crown and unbend and be a simple wife and mother. She wanted to buy 
an estate on Loch Laggan, but Prince Albert persuaded her to wait and look at 
Balmoral with him. She was charmed with the Highlands and the castle, and 
Albert bought the estate from Lord Aberdeen for £31,500, and presented it to her. 
Of it he writes : " We have withdrawn for a short time into a complete moun- 
tain solitude, where one rarely sees a human face, where the snow now in 
September covers the mountain tops, and the wild deer come creeping stealthilv 
around the house. 1, naughty man, have been creeping stealthily after the 
harmless stags, and to-day I shot two red deer. The castle is of granite, with 
numerous small turrets, and is situated on a rising ground, surrounded by birch- 
wood and close to the river Dee. The air is glorious and clear, but icy cold." The 
Queen afterwards bought much adjoining property, and the estate now includes 
forty thousand acres, six miles of which are along the banks of the Dee. She 
built several cottages on the grounds, and there is now quite a village near the 
palace. 

At this home in the Highlands of Scotland, the Queen spent as much time as 
possible while Albert lived, and after he died, because she preferred solitude 
and because it was a gift from him to her and because of the precious memories 
of a perfect married life that were associated with it. It lengthened her life 
and multiplied her usefulness. She fed soul and body on the pure atmosphere, 
the sublime mountain, the beautiful vale, the lovely landscape, the winding 



86 THE SPEAKING OAK 

stream, the purple heather, the sacred communion with her family, love for the 
poor and the simple worship of Almighty God. Balmoral was the expression 
of everything that was most beautiful in the character of the Queen and most 
potential in her reign. A few hours each day she devoted to the affairs of State, 
but much of the time was spent in recreation and rest in the bosom of her family 
and on the breast of her Redeemer. Though at ease in the highest social function, 
and exact in her requirements of Court etiquette, and acquainted as almost no one 
wdth the affairs of this busy world, she was a simple child of nature from the 
time she took the sceptre, a girl of eighteen, till death removed it from her 
fingers. Almost all great persons have had their places of solitude and hours 
for reflection, their contact with nature and communion with self. A proper 
proportion of society and solitude, of work and of rest, is necessary for the 
development of a complete cnaracter. 

^* >• >• 

BURIED TALENT 



SAMUEL McMICHAN, of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire, was ploughing re- 
cently in the field, and, resting his team for a moment, he looked back 
over the furrow and noticed a crooked place in it. He returned to find 
the cause of it, and he discovered that his plough had broken open an 
earthenware pot that had been buried there, and scattered hundreds of pieces of 
silver money in every direction. The coin was most of it silver pennies of the 
reigns of Edward I., who annexed Scotland, and Edward H., who lost it. Some 
of the coins w'cre those of Alexander HI., of Scotland, who ruled from 1249 to 
1286. There were more than two thousand pieces of the money. About two hun- 
dred years before Columbus discovered America some man hid that money in the 
ground. What his name was. or what was his motive, no one can tell. Maybe 
he stole it, and was afraid to circulate it. Maybe he hid it to keep lawless bands 
from confiscating it ; possibly he could not find the place in the field where he had 
buried it; more than likely it was some old miser who salted it down, infinitely 
happy at the thought that he had it, and, losing his senses or his life, never came to 
claim it. If those pennies could speak what a story they would tell, but as they are 
dumb, we will have to guess at their history. Whoever hid them there, or 
from whatever motive, the fact remains they were idle for nearly 600 years, doing 
no one any good. That money put out at interest would have amounted to a 
fabulous sum by this time, and would have done incalculable good. 

Whoever he was, what a fool he was to do as he did. And yet he has his 
imitators to-day, many of them who pack their silver away in idleness, where 
it will not do them or anyone else any good. He has imitators, in the many 
who take the faculties the Divine Master has given them to employ in mental 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 87 

and spiritual commerce for their own benefit and that of others, and leave them 
unemployed, like the one in the parable, who digged in the earth and hid his 
lord's money. 

^« ^• ^« 

SCIENCE AND BELIEF 



THOMAS A. EDISON has been so intensely human ; has been so thor- 
oughly engrossed with the investigation of natural facts, that some people 
have thought he was not a believer in God. Such people are greatly mis- 
taken. He does not hesitate to declare his faith in the existence of God 
and of his divine providence. He says : " Too many people have a microscopic 
idea of the Creator. If they would only study his wonderful works, as shown in 
the natural laws of the universe and in Nature herself (seen on every hand, if 
people would look for them), they would have a much broader idea of the 
Great Engineer and of his divine power. Indeed, I can almost prove his 
existence by chemistry." Mr. Edison thinks that a strong probability of the 
existence of an intelligent Creator, can be deduced from the fact that the 
harmonious mingling of elements in the chemical world will produce beautiful 
colors and exquisite fragrance ; and that the inharmonious mingling of them 
will produce disintegration, death, and foul odors. In several instances, the 
great scientist has expressed not only his intellectual faith in a Divine Being, 
but also his personal knowledge of him. 

We hear very much talk about the atheism of science, and see many 
persons who are frightened at its supposed danger, but the fact is that atheism 
among men of science is the rare exception ; that a majority of those who 
investigate the facts of the natural world are believers in infinite Wisdom 
and Love. 



A YOUNG MAN SAVES A HUNDRED AND TWENTY LIVES 



ON the night of June 30, 1900, there raged that terrific fire at the Hamburg- 
American Line docks at Hoboken, N. J., which destroyed three ships and 
many precious lives. During the conflagration there were many acts of 
heroism worthy of mention. Frank Rademachcr, a boy of eighteen 
years, took his skiff, and picked out of the wreckage, and fished out of the river, 
one hundred and twenty persons, who otherwise would have perished, and rowed 
them safely to the land. The coolness of his head and the skill of his hands 
were matched by the warmth of his heart. He constantly risked his life in his 
attempts to rCvSCue others. The simple-hearted young man did not seem to 



88 THE SPEAKING OAK 

think he had done anything worthy of especial praise. Some time after the 
fire, Colonel Wesley P. Jones, President of the United States Life Saving Corps, 
visited the Valencia Boat Club at Hoboken, and awarded to young Rademacher 
a gold medal for having saved so many lives, and said that he was the only 
person but one to whom the Corps had awarded such a medal. Colonel Jones 
also presented at the same time a silver medal to Philip Heckel, for saving 
lives that fatal night. President Jones said that young Rademacher's heroic 
conduct was known and honored throughout Germany as well as this country. 
There is a spiritual conflagration raging, and many are in the wreckage 
and in the water, and will speedily perish unless they be rescued. Christians 
ought to go to them with zeal and heroism and save them. A crown of gold 
adorned with sparkling jewels the King will bestow upon those who save the 
souls of their fellows, and they themselves will " shine as the brightness of the 
firmament, as the stars forever and ever." 



A TIN ROOF FOR A BED; THE BLUE SKY FOR A QUILT 



A 



T the close of a mission service in London, the man having charge began 
to put out the lights and to close up for the night. He noticed a little fel- 
low, bareheaded and barefooted, with face besmeared and with garments 
ragged, whom he told pleasantly to leave the room. The man went on 
with the rest of the work of closing, and when he was ready to put out the last 
light and turn the key, he saw the boy still there. In a louder voice and more per- 
emptory manner, he ordered the urchin to go home. The little fellow answered 
plaintively : " I ain't got no home, and ain't got nowhere to go ; and I'm awful hun- 
gry." The man thought he was putting up a story of need for the purpose of get- 
ting a few pennies out of him, but he invited the little fellow to go home with him, 
and gave him a good square meal. He asked the boy if he knew any others who 
were in the condition that he was in. The boy said : " Plenty of 'em." " Where?" 
he asked. The boy answered, '* Jes' foller me, an' I'll take yer to 'em." At mid- 
night they started, and going down some of the streets of the slum districts they 
came to a place that looked like a coal bin, and the boy, pointing to it, said: 
" There's lots of 'em there." Lighting a match, he looked in, but there was not 
one of them there. The little urchin said : " The cops *uv scared 'em out. and 
I will find 'em fer you." With these words he climbed up the side of the brick 
wall to the roof of the building, and the man followed him, and there lay thirteen 
dirty-faced, ragged, fatherless, motherless, homeless, little fellows, huddled 
together like so many swine, with no bed under them but the tin roof, and no 
quilt over them but the blue sky. The little fellow started to wake the boys up, 
but the man prevented him from doing so; and as he stood, looking at those 




THERE LAY THIRTEEN HOMELESS LITTLE FELLOWS 



(89) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 91 

boys asleep on the roof, God told him that henceforth it should be his life-work 
to provide homes for such little ones of His as those, and Dr. Barnardo was 
obedient to the heavenly voice and organized that charity which has so blessed 
the waifs of London. And each night, in that great city, there are sheltered in 
Christian Homes five thousand motherless and fatherless boys and girls, who 
are saved from the weather and the greater peril of temptation to lives of useful- 
ness and honor. 

In all the cities of our country there are faithful men and women who hear 
the same voice that spoke to Dr. Barnardo, and are caring for the little waifs. 
There are others to whom God is speaking who do not hsten to the call. It is 
difficult to conceive of a more beautiful charity than that of taking precious ones 
whose lives are virtually lost at the start, and saving them for humanity and 
heaven. 



GENERAL HARRISON'S AFFECTIONS 



i?r* 



I 



WENT at one time to Washington to request President Harrison to ap- 
point a friend to an important office. The President received me kindly, 
and after I had made a statement of facts in behalf of my friend, he said, 
" That appointment has given me more trouble of mind than any other 
one in my gift, including membership in my Cabinet. At least a dozen good men 
are urged for the position. I have narrowed the list down to two men, the one in 
whose interest you have come, and another from the northern part of the State. 
It is the choice between these two men that has troubled me. Both have brilliant 
minds, both are able lawyers, both are men of the highest integrity, both are 
intimate personal friends, and both have rendered signal service in the cam- 
paign. I have taken the matter to bed with me, and have lost more than one 
hour's sleep over it." I replied, " Mr. President, knowing you as well as I 
do, I am surprised to hear you speak as you do, and I am as much delighted 
as surprised. You are perhaps aware that you, like John Sherman and Senator 
Edmunds, are credited by the public with having a heart, but a heart largely 
under the control of the intellect." " Yes," he said, " I know that, but how little 
either of us is understood in this regard. Let me give you an incident about 
Senator Edmunds that will illustrate my thought. 

" There was an important bill to be considered in the Senate, in which I had 
an especial interest, and I said. ' Senator Edmunds, I want you to be sure and 
be present this afternoon to help me with my measure.' Pie said, ' I will 
not be there.' * You must,' I said. * I cannot,' he replied. He continued, 
' I have an invalid daughter, who is the idol of my heart. I am trying to make 
life just as happy for her as possible. I promised her to stay with her this 
afternoon, and I intend to do so if the wheels of the government stand still.' 




92 THE SPEAKING OAK 

The senator's eyes were full of tears as he talked, and I said to myself, the people 
think Edmunds is cold as an iceberg, they do not know him ; his heart is warm 
and tender as a woman's. Like the Senator, I do not wear my heart on my 
coat-sleeve, but a little farther below the surface, perhaps, than in most men it 
lies, bringing joy to me, and, I hope, some blessing to my fellow men." As the 
President related the pathetic incident, I looked into his face and noticed that 
his heart was mellow and his eyes were moist, and I thought how easy it is 
to misjudge others, to consider a nature cold as ice, which is, in reality, tender 
and warm. 

*f* *>• V* 

A POOR MAN RICH ; AND A RICH MAN POOR 

HERE was a very old man, who had been intelligent, honest, industrious, 
and faithful to his religious duties, whose reason was shaken a little from 
its throne. He had an innocent and harmless kind of mania, he labored 
under the delusion that he was exceedingly wealthy, that he owned most 
of the property of the State in which he lived. With a palm-leaf fan in his hand, 
which he carried in cold weather as well as warm, he would walk through the 
various parts of the town, where men were working on the street or canal or 
river front or upon some building, and give specific instructions as to how he 
wanted the work done. When a boy, I used to see him in the bank, depositing 
and drawing out vast sums of money to keep his great enterprises going. Being 
a man so highly respected, the tellers of the bank humored him in his delusion. 
They would take little pieces of paper, which he thought were money, and give 
him due credit on his book; or they would give him out little scraps of paper, 
wdiich he would count carefully, say, " Correct," and put in his purse as pre- 
cious treasure. 

Going up and coming down the steps of the same bank, I used to see 
another old man, Avho was laboring under a similar delusion. He thought he 
was rich ; he had a store, and a stock of goods, a number of farms, a beautiful 
residence, stocks and bonds, and the people considered him about the most 
prosperous merchant in the town. But, in fact, he was not really rich. He 
lacked those elements which contribute to the development of man's better 
self. He loved his money so much that he had almost no disposition or time 
for anything else; he was so fond of it that it did him and other people very 
little good. The pieces of paper, that he put in one bank window and took 
out of the other, with their colors of green and red and black, with their 
figures, and faces of President, Secretary or General, upon them, were more 
handsome than those the other old man had, but they were as powerless to make 
him really wealthy. As his relatives died away from him he became more 
sordid in spirit, and dwarfed in his manhood. I Avas present at his funeral, and 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 93 

looked carefully to see if a single tear fell from any eye during the exercises. 
If one fell I did not discover it. After his death, there was a bitter fight in 
the courts over the pieces of paper that the poor-rich man had left. 

The other old man, with the fan in his hand, who was laughed at because 
he thought he was rich and was poor, was in reality rich. Until the time of 
his extreme old age, he had lived a life of intelligence, truthfulness, integrity, 
kindness, generosity, and piety. Even in his strange delusion the moral equal- 
ities dominated his heart. He had all that he really needed in this life, and 
had laid up treasure in heaven. He thought he owned a state; he was the son 
of a King, and owned an empire. 



THE FABLE OF THE EAGLE AND THE CAT 



LORD SPENCER gave a dinner to some literary friends at his home in Lon- 
don. Benjamin Franklin being among the number. During the conver- 
sation the host lamented the fact that the fable, as a form of expression, 
had gone out of date ; that the birds and the beasts, and other creatures 
had said all that they knew, and were not likely to replenish their stock of learning. 
With this in view all the guests were in accord except Franklin, who remained 
silent. Lord Spencer appealed to him directly for his opinion, and he replied: 
" Why, my lord, I cannot say that I have the honor to think with you in this afifair. 
The birds and beasts have indeed said a great many wise things ; but it is likely they 
will say a great many more yet before they are done. Nature, I am thinking, 
is not quite so easily exhausted as your lordship seems to imagine." The host 
then asked Franklin to ofifer an illustration of the truths he had uttered, by giving 
them an impromptu fable. This he declined to do, but the other guests insisted 
so urgently that he wrote upon a piece of paper this fable, which he read to 
them : " Once upon a time, as an eagle, in the full pride of his pinions, soared 
over a humble farm-yard, darting his fiery eyes around in search of a pig, a 
lamb, or some such pretty titbit, what should he behold but a plump young 
rabbit, as he thought, squatted among the weeds. Down at once upon him he 
pounced, and, bearing him aloft in his talons, thus chuckled to himself with joy: 
' Zounds, what a lucky dog am I ! Such a nice rabbit here, this morning, for 
my breakfast !' His joy was but momentary ; for the supposed rabbit happened 
to be a stout cat, who, spitting and squalling with rage, instantly stuck his 
teeth and nails like fury into the eagle's thighs, making the blood and feathers 
fly at a dreadful rate. ' Hold ! Hold ! for mercy's sake ! ' cried the eagle, his 
wings shivering in the air with very torment. ' Villain ! ' retorted the cat, with 
a tiger-like growl, * dare you talk of mercy after treating me thus, who never 
injured you?' 'O God bless you, Mr. Cat, is that you?' rejoined the eagle. 



94 THE SPEAKING OAK 

' Pon honor, I did not intcMid it, sir. I thought it was only a rabbit I had got 
hold of — and you know we are all fond of rabbits. Do you suppose, my dear 
sir, that if I had but dreamt it was you, I would ever have touched a hair 
of your head ? No, indeed ; I am not such a fool as all that comes to. And 
now, my dear Mr. Cat, come, let's be good friends again, and I'll let you go 
with all my heart.' ' Yes, you'll let me go, scoundrel, will you, here from the 
clouds, to break every bone in my skin! No, villain, carry me back, and put 
me down exactly where you found me, or I'll tear the throat out of you in a 
moment.' Without a word of reply, the eagle stooped at once from his giddy 
height, and sailing humbly down, with great complaisance restored the cat to 
his simple farm-yard, there to sleep or hunt his rats and mice at pleasure." 

After he had completed his story, all were silent. Finally, Lord Spencer, 
in a sad tone replied, "Ah, Dr. Franklin, I see the drift of your fable; and 
my fears have already made the application. God grant that Britain may not 
prove the eagle and America the cat." 

In a little over a year from that time the Declaration of Independence was 
passed. The British eagle undertook to devour the American rabbit, and, after 
eight years of scratching and fighting, it was glad to lay down the cat. There 
are individuals like nations, who are very quick to lay hold upon a rabbit, 
without teeth or claws with which to defend itself, who are very shy about 
touching a cat, which can make such a savage fight. 



A BRAVE CHINESE BOY 



THE besieged in Pekin sent a number of natives with messages to Tien-Tsin, 
almost all of whom were detected and killed. Three, however, returned. 
One of them was a Chinese boy, fifteen years of age, who carried the 
message from Sir Claude MacDonald to Mr. Charles, in Tien-Tsin, which 
prompted the relief force to start immediately, and not wait until September, and 
likely saved the besieged from annihilation. He had been a scholar in the Sunday 
School of the Congregational Mission in Pekin, and when the Boxer troubles 
became more threatening, his employer discharged him, fearing that the mob would 
burn down his establishment if he kept a Sunday School scholar in it. When 
the Boxers came through the streets he joined their ranks, as a pretended fol- 
lower, and spent the night in howling, and making as much noise as the rest. 
After the Congregational Mission buildings had been destroyed, a missionary 
went to the neighborhood of the ruins, to see if there were any native Chris- 
tians desiring shelter. He found this lad. who followed him into the Methodist 
Mission, and afterward went with the missionaries and native Christians into 
the British legation. He offered to risk his life in undertaking to carry a mes- 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 9t^ 

sage to Ticn-Tsin. They dressed him up as a beggar, gave him a bowl of 
porridge, with Sir Claude MacDonald's letter, wrapped in oiled silk, at the bottom 
of it, and let him down in a basket from the Tartar wall. This was done on the 
night of July the fourth ; he reached Tien-Tsin, after a series of thrilling adven- 
tures, on July the twenty-first, delivered his message, and in one week to the 
day, he was back again, with encouraging news, to the British legation. They 
cheered him lustily, and honored him as one of the greatest heroes of the siege. 

This boy's bravery, devotion to the allied forces, and signal service in their 
behalf, entitled him to the esteem and gratitude of the civilized world. 

If this heathen Chinese Sunday School scholar could be so brave and do 
so much for the cause of God, what great things should the Sunday School 
scholars of Christian lands undertake for the cause of Christ and his church, 
and what an inspiration this example of heroism should be to all workers, old 
and young, in the service of the Master. 



THE WATER SUPPLY AT LADYSMITH 



NSON PLENUS, who obtained employment in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 
had been awarded a medal by the British Government for special acts of 



bravery during the siege of Ladysmith. On being notified that the honor 
had been conferred upon him, he said to a reporter who visited him : " I 
didn't do so much at Ladysmith. One of the first things the Boers did after sur- 
rounding the town was to destroy the waterworks system. Now, fifteen thousand 
men and women couldn't be bothered going a half-mile or more down to the creek 
every time they wanted a drink, so some means had to be found of getting the 
water into the town. 

" There was an old relic in the shape of a fire department at Ladysmith, 
and the oldest thing about it was a fire engine. It would not have put out a 
fire in seven years, but that did not matter. In South Africa they prefer to let 
a building burn down and then rebuild it. We moved the old thing down to 
the river, and laid a line of leaky woven hose up into the town. We hid the 
engine where the Boer guns could not reach it with their shells, and started 
pumping. There was only one kind of coal — very soft, and much given to 
smoking. This black smoke made an elegant target, and the Boers were not 
in the habit of overlooking a good thing. They shot at it continually, and several 
times ploughed up the gravel about the engine. I was not injured in any way, 
however, and kept the old engine pumping through the entire siege. It broke 
down many times, and it was not the easiest thing in the world to make repairs 
with nothing with which to make them." 

It seems that this man, who speaks so modestly of himself, had performed 



96 THE SPEAKING OAK 

a deed of heroism which was worthy of the recognition of the British Govern- 
ment ; that by his skill, bravery, energy, and constancy, he did much toward 
preserving the heahh and Hfe of the besieged by furnishing them with an ample 
supply of fresh water, and in the midst of flying shot and shell, risked his own 
life in his efforts to do so. Water forms such a large percentage of plants and 
animals, that they quickly die without it. The water supply in a campaign is 
as important as that of ammunition or arms. 

Christ is the water of Life, which refreshes thirsty souls and saves from 
death, and he who furnishes to famishing mortals this water shall have the 
notice and favor of the Divine Ruler, and shall be rewarded, not by a medal, 
which will be tarnished by the touch of time, but with a crown of life. To risk 
the life in supplying this living water to fellow men is to reach the highest 

point of human heroism. 

^. v* ^. 

THE DANGER OF LETTING THE LIGHT GO OUT 

^T a circus entertainment in San Francisco, a man with gaudy dress and all 
bespangled, entered the cage of wild beasts. He had them under such 
perfect control that he had to sting them with his whip to make them 
snarl and howl. The light went suddenly out and in an instant they 
sprang upon him, and though he screamed for help, they tore him to pieces before 
help could reach him. 

Darkness is the curtain behind which vice hides and preys. It is said that 
the improved lighting appliances of cities has greatly reduced crime. It is 
the safe thing to keep the light of Christ's love burning in the heart, for if it 
shall burn low or go out, the wild beasts of evil passion will pounce upon and 
destroy the soul. 

v> ^• ^• 

VICTORIA TEACHES A SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS 



SOME twenty years ago Queen Victoria conducted a Bible class in Buck- 
ingham Palace. When the court is staying in London, there are many 
servants in the palace, and, as a considerable number of these are married 
and have children, her Majesty formed a Bible class for the especial 
benefit of the little ones. 

This novel Sunday School was held in one of the Queen's private rooms, 
and sometimes quite a large number of children were present. Her Majesty 
conducted the class herself, and many of the children, now grown to be men 
and women, look back with intense pleasure to the time when they had for 
their Sunday-school teacher none other than the Queen of England. A chapter 
in the Bible would be selected by her Majesty. This the scholars read in turn, 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 97 

verse by verse. The Queen would then explain the more difficult passages in 
simple language, and set forth the lesson to be learned. 

The Queen furnished a most excellent example to the thin-brained, shal- 
low-hearted, who think the poor beneath their notice, and to the Christians 
who consider the teaching of children in Scriptural truths a small thing, un- 
worthy of their ability or energy. Victoria was great on state occasions, and 
at Jubilees, but nowhere greater than as teacher of the Bible class composed 
of the children of the servants. There is no element more permanent in the 
British, or any other empire, than the education of the children, the children 
of the common people, especially in Biblical truth. God seems great in making 
worlds, and creating intelligences, but nowhere greater than when he stoops 
lowest at the Cross, to save the poorest child of earth. 



BEN FRANKLIN AS A BOY 



THE boy, Ben Franklin, as he went away from home to make his living, took 
a boat at Burlington, New Jersey, and worked his passage by rowing all 
night to Philadelphia. He landed in that city, having in his pocket a dol- 
lar and a shilling, and on his back a bundle of clothes, the only possessions 
he had in the world. On leaving the boat he gave his shilling to a poor old man 
who belonged to the crew, and started up Market street with a capital stock of one 
dollar. He bought three loaves of bread at the bakery, put one loaf under each 
arm, and gnawed the other as he went along the street. A greener looking speci- 
men could hardly be imagined than this gawk of a boy, with his soiled clothes and 
begrimed face, eating his bread in the open street. He passed the residence 
of the beautiful Miss Deborah Read, who laughed heartily at the ridiculously 
verdant appearance of the youth. He went along apparently aimlessly until he 
came to the dock, near to the place where he had landed, and seeing a poor woman 
with" a hungry child leaning against her, he gave her two of the loaves which he 
had, retaining the part of the one which he had been eating. This green boy, 
at the very start in life, exhibited those traits of character which made his life 
so beautiful and so valua'ble. The young woman that laughed at him, as being 
the symbol of everything that was awkward and undesirable, afterwards was glad 
to become his wife, and share the affections and honors of this great man. 
Hard thinking and hard work, together with good native ability, turned this 
awkward boy into the great philosopher, scientist and diplomatist. 

The world afterward learned what Miss Read, the society belle, found out 
by experience — that it is not wise to judge a boy by the cost or cut of his 
clothes, by his gait or by his manners on the street, as real manhood is in the 
brains under the hat and in the heart under the vest. 



98 THE SPEAKING OAK 

SNOW BRIDGES 



THE crevasses of high mountains are often spanned by bridges, made by the 
falling snow. The wise tourist and guide always passes over these 
bridges with extreme caution. Every now and then some venturesome 
person or party falls through them and is lost. About a year ago, Dr. 
Schaffer and a guide undertook to pass over a crevasse in the Alps on the snow. 
The guide got safely across, but the doctor fell through and dragged his compan- 
ion with him down into the chasm. The fall did not kill them, and they called 
and called, and struggled and struggled, for a day and night in vain ; and, writing 
in their diary an account of their experiences and messages to their survivors, 
laid down in their ice bed, with its blue canopy of sky, to a painless sleep that 
knows no waking. 

In climbing the steeps of life's mission, the traveler will find chasms that 
are spanned by snow bridges, which are beautiful and solid to behold, but 
thoroughly unsafe. The sun that smiles upon them weakens them ; and yet 
incautious travelers are constantly trying and falling through them. There is 
one safe bridge over the dangerous chasms of earth and over the river of death — 
the one which is made out of the timbers of the Cross on which the Saviour died. 



YOUNG CONVERTS ON THE BATTLESHIP ''MAINE" 



WHILE a pastor in Brooklyn, I promised the local chaplain of the Navy Yard 
that I would preach for him some time. One morning he called at the 
parsonage and said : " I want you to help me to-night. There are sev- 
eral ships in the Yard, and we are likely to have a good audience. Come 
and preach a short, earnest Gospel sermon." I consented, and at the hour ap- 
pointed I crossed the little ferry to the cob dock, where services were held in the 
chapel. The room was full of sailors and marines. An enthusiastic preliminary 
service of song and prayer was led by the chaplain. I preached a short sermon on 
" Present Faith in a Present Saviour for Present Salvation." The sight of 
so many men, with lives exposed to peril and giving themselves up to the service 
of their country, affected me greatly and made me peculiarly anxious that some 
souls might be saved during the service. The Holy Spirit seemed sensibly 
present, melting the heart of the speaker and of the hearers. I could not keep 
back the tears, as I told them of Christ's love for them in his death upon the 
Cross, and his desire to accept them as children, there and then. The boys 
wept also, as they yielded to the constraining power of divine grace. Seldom 
have I ever felt the burden of souls resting upon me as I did that night. 
I felt, in the depths of my soul, that there were some listening to me who, if they 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 99 

did not receive Christ at that time, would never have another opportunity to do 
so, and in the exhortation which closed the sermon I frankly expressed my 
anxious fear that that might be the last public opportunity some of them would 
ever have to give themselves to God. When the invitation was given, about 
fifty of those strong men arose for prayers, a large number of whom, before 
the meeting closed, professed Christ. Several of those professing conversions 
were from the battleship Maine. A day or two afterwards they were ordered 
to Cuba, and, perishing in the explosion in Havana harbor, they became martyrs 
of the Republic. They embraced, perhaps, the last public opportunity they ever 
had to give their hearts to Christ. 

It is especially important for men whose lives are full of unusual peril, to 
attend promptly to the matter of personal salvation ; but the uncertainty of life 
in all ordinary occupations is so great that it is the safest thing to give the heart 
to God without a moment of delay. 



NAPOLEON'S RELIGION 



NAPOLEON'S exile afiforded him the opportunity of thinking of and com- 
municating with God, which he did constantly. His religious opinions 
became very clear, and his faith exceedingly strong. Toward the close of 
his life he had a conversation with General Bertrand, who was an unbe- 
liever, in which he expressed some religious views which are worthy to be pre- 
served through the centuries. He said : "I perceive God ; I see him ; have need 
of him. I believe in him. If you do not perceive him, if you do not believe in him, 
so much the worse for you. But you will. General Bertrand, yet believe in God. 
I can pardon many things, but I have a horror of an atheist and materialist." Con- 
tinuing, he makes this reference to the New Testament Scriptures : " The Gospel 
possesses a secret virtue, a mysterious efficacy, a warmth which penetrates and 
soothes the heart. One finds, in meditating upon it, that which one experiences 
in contemplating the heavens. The Gospel is not a book ; it is a living being, 
with an action, a power which invades everything that opposes its extension. 
Behold it upon this table, this book surpassing all others (here the Emperor 
solemnly placed his hand upon it), I never omit to read it, and every day with 
the same pleasure. 

" Nowhere is there to be found such a series of beautiful ideas, admirable, 
moral maxims, which file like the battalions of a celestial army, and which 
produce in our soul the same emotion which one experiences in contemplating 
the infinite expanse of the skies, resplendent in a summer's night with all the 
brilliancy of the stars. Not only is our mind absorbed, it is controlled, and the 
soul can never go astray with this book for its guide. Once master of our 



loo THE SPEAKING OAK 

spirit, the faithful Gospel loves us. God ever is our friend, our father, and truly 
our God. The mother has no greater care for the infant whom she nurses." 

In the discussion about the Divinity of Christ, General Bertrand said : " If 
Jesus has impassioned and attached to his chariot the multitude, if he has 
revolutionized the world, I see in that only the power of genius and the action 
of a commanding spirit, which vanquishes the world as so many conquerors 
have done — Alexander, Caesar, you, sire, and Mohammed — by the sword." 
Napoleon replied with considerable feeling, " I know men, and I tell you that 
Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ 
and the founders of Empires, and the gods of other religions. That resemblance 
does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever other religion the 
distance of infinity. 

" We can say to the author of every other religion, you are neither gods nor 
the agents of Deity. You are but the missionaries of falsehood moulded 
from the same clay with the rest of mortals. You are made with all the 
passions and vices inseparable from them. Your temples and your priests pro- 
claim your origin. Such will be the judgment, the cry of conscience, of whoever 
examines the gods and the temples of paganism. Everything in Christ aston- 
ishes me. His spirit overawes me, and his will confounds me. Between him 
and whoever else in the world, there is no possible comparison. He is a being 
by himself. His birth, and the history of his life; the profundity of his doctrine, 
which grapples the mightiest difficulties; his Gospel, his apparition, his empire, 
his march across the ages and the realms ; everything is for me a prodigy. Here 
I see nothing human. 

" In every other existence, but that of Christ, how many imperfections ! 
Where is the character which has not yielded, vanquished by obstacles? Where 
is the individual who has never been governed by circumstances or places, who 
has never succumbed to the influence of the times, who has never compounded 
with any customs or passions? From the first day to the last, he is the same, 
always the same, majestic and simple, infinitely firm, and infinitely gentle. 

" Christ died, the object of the wrath and contempt of the nation, and aban- 
doned and denied by his own disciples. 'They are about to take me,' he said, 'and 
to crucify me. I shall be abandoned of all the world. My chief disciple will 
deny me at the commencement of my punishment. I shall be left to the 
wicked. But then, divine justice being satisfied, original sin being expiated 
by my suflferings, the bond of man to God will be renewed and my death will 
be the life of my disciples. Then they will be more strong without me than with 
me, for they will see me rise again. I shall ascend to the skies, and I shall 
send to them a spirit who will instruct them. The spirit of the Cross will enable 
them to understand my Gospel. In fine, they will believe it, they will preach it, 
and they will convert the world.' " 

By his own admission, Bonaparte paid almost no attention to religion during 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES loi 

his public career. He was os busy with this world that he could not take the 
time to think about the next. But as this world grew small and dim to him 
on St. Helena, the other one became large and distinct. As he lost the Alps, 
he looked toward Mount Zion ; as Europe slipped from his fingers, he reached 
his hand out to secure the heavenly Canaan. He lost an earthly kingdom, he 
conquered a greater empire within himself. He lost the crown of France, 
he gained a crown of immortality. It was worth his colossal failure to have 
succeeded in finding God in the Divine Christ who saved his soul. What do 
the ages care whether Napoleon Bonaparte lived to old age, as the Emperor 
in Paris, or died in exile chained to a rock in the ocean ? And what difference 
does it make to him now? 

Subjects as well as rulers are treated to this kind of earthly discipline 
for their spiritual good. Money is often taken away that men may lay up 
treasures in heaven; friends are allowed to desert, that the lonely one may find 
" Him who sticketh closer than a brother." Loved ones are taken to heaven, 
to bring it closer and make it more real. In a hundred ways God chops down 
the earthly supports that hold us up, that we may fall into the arms of the 
Everlasting. No earthly misfortune is so dark that it will not be the greatest 
blessing, if it shall bring the soul to a knowledge of God, the joys of Christ's 
love, and the bliss of immortality. 



PROFESSOR HUXLEY AND THE BIBLE 

PiROFESSOR HUXLEY, who invented the word " agnostic," and claimed 
J to be an agnostic all his life, entertained views of the Bible in his last 
^^1 years which greatly surprised the world. Sir John Lubbock, in an ad- 
dress given before the Anthropological Institute in London, gave a quota- 
tion from an address of Professor Huxley before the London School Board, in 
which he maintains the importance of the Bible to the mental and moral training 
of the children. The following is what the professor said : 

" I have been seriously perplexed to know by what practical measures the 
religious feeling, which is the essential basis of conduct, was to be kept up, in 
the present utterly chaotic state of opinion on these matters, without the use of 
the Bible. Take the Bible as a whole, make the severest deductions which fair 
criticism can dictate for shortcomings and positive errors, eliminate, as a sensible 
lay teacher would do if left to himself, all that it is not desirable for children to 
occupy themselves with, and there still remains in the old literature a vast 
residuum of moral beauty and grandeur. And then consider the great historical 
fact, that for three centuries this book has been woven into the life of all that is 
best and noblest in English history ; that it has become the national epic of 



102 THE SPEAKING OAK 

Britain, and is as familiar to noble and simple from John O'Groat's House to 
land's End, as Dante and Tasso were once to Italians ; that it is written in the 
noblest and purest English, and abounds in exquisite beauties of mere literary 
form, and finally, it forbids the veriest hind who never left his village to be 
ignorant of the existence of other countries and other civilizations, and of a 
great past, stretching back to the furthest limits of the oldest nations in the 
world. By the study of what other book could children be so humanized, and 
made to feel that each figure in that vast historical procession fills, like them- 
selves, but a momentary space in the interval between two eternities, and earns 
the blessing or the curse of all time according to its effort to do good and hate 
evil, even as they also are earning their payment for their work." 

The Bible, with the human element so beautifully emphasized by the pro- 
fessor and the divine authority which he denied, is at the basis of all best cul- 
ture and learning, and is indispensable to the education and salvation of child- 
hood. It should be a matter of congratulation to the Christian Church, that in 
so many of the public schools of this country a chapter from the Bible is read 
at the beginning of the day's work, and that millions of children then say the 
prayer of our Lord. 

^» "^ >» 

PETER COOPER THE INVENTOR 



PETER COOPER was of such an inquisitive turn of mind that he made some 
new discovery in about every field of employment which he tried in his 
earlier years. As a workman in the carriage factory, he invented a new 
hub for a buggy-wheel. Employed at another place, he patented a pair 
of shears for cutting cloth. Being domesticated in his disposition, he used to help 
take care of the children and attend to the housework ; but, as he kept his books and 
did considerable figuring at home, he made a cradle which rocked itself, with 
a fan for keeping the flies ofif the baby, and a music-box to entertain and put 
it to sleep. He built the " Tom Thumb," the first locomotive engine ever made 
in this country, and ran the first car by steam over the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad. He discovered numerous appliances for the use of anthracite coal 
in the making of iron. The first invention out of which he made any considerable 
money was his shears for cutting cloth. When he had made the first five- 
hundred dollars out of it he was highly elated, and had several plans for its 
expenditure. But he learned that his father was seriously embarrassed finan- 
cially, likely to " go to the wall," and he gave him his five hundred dollars, all 
he had in the world. And he never ceased to be thankful for the fact that he 
had saved his father from bankruptcy. He was already moving toward that 
large-hearted benevolence which brought such blessing to his fellows, and honor 
to himself. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 103 

CONVERTED IN HIS CELL 



CHAPLAIN MUNRO, of the New York Tombs Prison, tells this story of 
the conversion of one of the prisoners : 

Seldom have I seen the hand of God more clearly manifest than in 
the experience of a young man, who, I have reason to believe, was con- 
verted in prison through the instrumentality of a copy of The Christian Herald. 
When I visit a prison, I make it a point to hold up Jesus Christ and him crucified, 
for it may be my last opportunity; I may never see those I meet in this 
way a second time. The young man of whom I speak was between thirty and 
thirty-five, of more than the average intelligence and ability, and withal a ready 
conversationalist. He had passed through a checkered career, had embarked in 
many wild schemes, and failed in all. He was still on the stormy sea of life with- 
out a pilot, without hope and without God. Like thousands of other young men, 
he started out on a career of drinking and gambling, went on the rocks, and became 
a total wreck. Poor soul ! He never expected to come to such a sad end. But 
then the way to hell is paved with good intentions. His wild career brought him, 
at last, to a felon's cell, where he drank the bitter dregs of a misspent life. I had 
many interviews with him on the subject of personal religion, but without ap- 
parent result. While I sought to point him to Jesus Christ, the sinners' friend, 
he thought only of the troubles which he had brought upon himself by his own 
misconduct. I could see he had no desire to forsake his sins and turn to God. 

As the weeks passed by, I became deeply interested in him. In going over 
his past life, he mentioned that he had been in business in New York City for 
several years, during which time he had made his home in Brooklyn. Though 
he had made no profession of religion during those years, yet he was a frequent 
attendant at church, and was often greatly impressed, perhaps, like King Agrippa, 
" almost persuaded " to be a Christian ; but when he came to decide the great 
question, business absorbed his attention, and he delayed, hoping for a more 
convenient season. But God's gracious spirit did not leave him, even in prison ; 
and I know from the conversations I have had with him that his heart yearned 
continually for something more than this world could give. This young man 
came from a Christian home, and had had a praying mother, who taught him 
the Word of God in his earliest days. Often in the prison night-watches, prom- 
ises from the Word of Life would come rushing to his mind like an Alpine 
torrent. How he came, finally, to trust in Jesus and become a child of God was 
little less than a miracle. I will allow him to tell the story in his own words: 

" I came to the conclusion that I was a lost young man on the brink of 
a hopeless despair. That I ever should have come to a felon's cell. I had never 
for a moment expected. In passing my cell one morning, you gave me a 
copy of The Christian Herald. I looked it over carefully, as I had done on many 
previous occasions, and in due season I laid it aside, where it found the same 



I04 THE SPEAKING OAK 

resting-place as other exhausted Hterature, viz, the floor. Being at constant 
war with myself, I would alternately pace my narrow cell until fatigue would 
seize me; then throw myself on my cot again to lose consciousness in sleep. 
But, instead of finding sweet rest, I was often dashed back into the gulf of my 
own unfathomable despondency and doubt. 

" As I turned on my bed in almost hopeless despair, I stooped to pick up 
the paper from the floor, where it lay with others. One of the pictures seemed 
familiar to me ; it was that of Dr. Talmage. The text of his sermon published 
in that issue of the paper was : ' A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold 
in pictures of silver' (Prov. 25: 11). This sermon I read, and re-read many 
times. It fitted my longing heart exactly, and took a deep hold upon me. 
What a solace those words became to my soul ! My burden rolled away ; my 
anxiety ceased ; the troubled waters within became calm ; and out of chaos and 
despair proceeded order and courage. From that moment I was a changed man, 
fully determined to live the rest of my life for Him who died for me, and saved 
me by his blood. That I may remain steadfast is my sincere prayer, and when I 
am again a free man, I will strive to ever keep before me the guiding hand of God ; 
and the fact that, through his mercy and the instrumentality of the sermon, I 
became a saved man in the New York Tombs prison." 

He is now a free man, and I have the best reason for believing that he is 
" holding fast " to his faith and living as a humble and exemplary Christian. 

How great is the power of a live preacher! How wonderful is the influ- 
ence of a live newspaper. Neither the preacher nor the editor knows the one 
millionth part of the good his message will do ; it will go on in ever-widening 
circles to eternity. 



LEE AT PRAYER-MEETING DURING A BATTLE 



REV. J. WILLIAM JONES, of Lexington, Virginia, makes the following 
reference to the religion of General Robert E. Lee: 

" He always attended public worship, if it were in his power to do so, 
and often the earnestness of the preacher would make his eye kindle and 
his face glow. He frequently attended the meetings of his chaplains, took a warm 
interest in the proceedings, and uniformly exhibited an ardent desire for the 
promotion of religion in the army. He did not fail, on many occasions, to 
show his men that he was a sincere Christian. When General Meade came 
over to Mine Run, and the Southern army marched to meet him, Lee was 
riding along his line of battle in the woods, when he came upon a party of 
soldiers holding a prayer-meeting on the eve of battle. Such a spectacle was 
not an unusual one in the army then and afterwards — the rough fighters were 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 105 

often men of profound piety — and on this occasion the sight before him 
seems to have excited deep emotion in Lee. He stopped, dismounted — the 
staff officers accompanying him did the same — and Lee uncovered his head, and 
stood in an attitude of profound respect and attention, while the earnest 
prayer proceeded, in the midst of the thunder of artillery and the explosion of 
the enemy's shells." 

The General-in-Chief of the army and the private soldier are on the same 
level in prayer before the God who ruleth over all. 



THE MAM WHO SAVED THE DAY AT PEKIN 



TRAGIC events bring forth worthy leaders ; often they call up an unexpected 
hero, one not in the eye or on the lip of the public. One would little have 
thought, at the beginning of the siege of Pekin, that the greatest hero of 
that terrible occurrence would in the end prove to be a modest preacher. 
Such, however, was the case. Rev. Francis D. Gamewell, of the American Meth- 
odist Mission, was appointed by Sir Claude MacDonald chief of staff on forti- 
fications of the British legation, and it was largely through his wisdom and 
energy that the besieged were saved. There is abundant evidence of that fact. 

Mr. Gamewell took a more serious view than most foreigners of the de- 
position of the Emperor by the Empress Dowager, and feared her insincere 
ruling. As matters went from bad to worse, he began to put his house in 
order for an attack. Though a preacher and teacher, his engineering instinct, 
inherited from his father, and his technical learning arranged themselves to 
defend the Methodist compound. He dug trenches, threw up earthworks, 
made barbed-wire fences. He did his work so thoroughly that, when the sit- 
uation became extremely critical and the foreigners were seeking safety in the 
several legations. Minister Conger suggested that all the Protestant mission- 
aries, and the native Christians under their charge, should go into the Meth- 
odist compound for protection. This they did, and twenty-two American ma- 
rines were detailed to aid in defending them. The splendid church was trans- 
formed into a fort, and guards stood upon its roof. The Boxers said that the 
reason that compound made such a strong resistance, was that a divine being from 
America had descended on the church, and had neutralized their power. 

On the morning of June 20, 1900, Mr. Gamewell found a man on the floor 
of the hallway of his residence, faint from a bullet wound. He was Mr. Cordes, 
the secretary of the German legation. He told Mr. Gamewell that, as Baron 
von Ketteler and he were on their way to the Foreign Office, a white-buttoned 
mandarin, with a peacock feather in his hat, had shot the baron, who was being 
carried in a chair. Mr. Cordes had been wounded, and had crawled along the 



io6 THE SPEAKING OAK 

narrow street to INIr. Ganieweirs house, for shelter. Mr. Gamewell then knew 
that the Chinese Government was behind the " Boxers," and that the compound 
could not hold out against the Imperial troops. Two hours later, he had 
under his protection seventy missionaries and seven hundred native Christians, 
many of them children of the schools on their way to the British legation, and 
the palace opposite. That morning. Professor James, of the Imperial Uni- 
versity, and Dr. Morrison, secured the consent of Prince Su, that a portion of 
his palace opposite the British legation should be occupied by the native 
Christians. Then Mr. Gamewell took the Chinese Christians from his com- 
pound to the palace. At three o'clock that afternoon, Mr. Gamewell went 
over to the palace, and, meeting Professor James, was informed that Prince 
Su had given assurance that the Imperial troops would not fire on the foreign- 
ers. Professor James, returning to the British legation, was killed by Chinese 
soldiers. After saving the lives of three thousand native Christians, he gave 
his own life as a sacrifice. 

Mr. Gamewell had defended the Methodist compound so scientifically and 
splendidly that Sir Claude MacDonald placed him in charge of the fortifica- 
tions of the British legation. So complete was his work that, although a num- 
ber of men among the allies who exposed themselves to fight were stricken 
down, not a single woman or child within the bounds of the legation was 
killed during the siege. It is said that Mr. Gamewell took his first lesson in 
sand-bag defense, when he saw the Confederate soldiers fortifying his native 
town. Whether this be true or not, he made extensive use of this means of 
defense. He stacked up over fifty thousand bags, which women made and 
helped to fill with sand. 

Professor Gamewell has proved, beyond a doubt, the complicity of the Im- 
perial Government with the " Boxer " attack on the allies. After the siege, 
he was looking for a place where five hundred native converts could be shel- 
tered. He secured a vacant house that had been occupied by Chinese officials, 
and, in a drawer of a table in the building, he found a placard, and a block 
from which the circulars had been printed. The circulars were yellow, with 
a stain of red. Yellow is the Imperial color. When the Emperor wishes to 
issue an Imperial decree, he writes in vermilion. On the placard was printed : 
" Let the Boxers and military at Pekin have the victory. Exalt the Manchu 
dynasty, and drive out foreigners." 

I have heard Mr. Gamewell read from the oldest newspaper in the world, 
the Pekin Gaceftc, of July 24, an edict of the Empress Dowager, ordering the 
princes to lead the Boxers, and to distribute rations of rice to them. The 
American representatives, soldiers, sailors, and missionaries, acted heroically 
during the siege. It is a matter of national pride that the greatest of all the 
heroes of the siege was the humble, able, consecrated American missionary 
and man, Francis D. Gamewell. 




HK STACKED UP OVER FIFTY THOUSAND BAGS 



(107) 



^.J 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 109 

In his report to the United States Government, dated August 17, 1900, 
three days after the alHed forces entered the city, Hon. E. H. Conger, then 
American minister to China, said : 

"All were industrious and helpful, but everyone will agree that to no one is 
done any injustice if Rev. F. D. Gamewell is mentioned as the man to whose 
practical intelligence, quick perception, executive ability, untiring energy, and 
sleepless activity, more than to any other's, is due our successful and safe 
resistance." 

Official notice was taken of Mr. Gamewell's signal services by the British 
Government, and by our own, in the following communication: 

" Leg.\tion of the United States oe America, 
" Pekin, China, February 18, 1901. 

" Dear Mr. Gamewell : It is with great pleasure that I have received, 
from the Department of State, and hand you herewith, a copy of a note from 
the British Ambassador in Washington, expressing his government's appre- 
ciation of the eminent services rendered by you during the attacks on the legations 
in Pekin, and for the invaluable assistance rendered by you both to Sir Claude 
MacDonald, personally, and to the defense in general. 

" I am instructed to inform you that the Department of State is much 
gratified at the tribute to your skill and heroism, in which sentiment I most 
heartily join. Yours very truly, E. H. Conger." 

Mr. Gamewell was born in Camden, South Carolina. He inherited marked 
originality and a scientific instinct from his father, the late John N. Gamewell, 
the inventor of the Gamewell fire alarm and police telegraph. He naturally 
turned to civil engineering, and, in 1875, entered the Polytechnic Institute at 
Troy, New York, where he remained two years. He then went to Cornell 
University, but a severe attack of illness cut short his course there. In 1881, 
he was graduated from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A few 
months afterwards, he went to China as a missionary, and was stationed at 
Pekin. Three years later, he was made superintendent of the West China 
Mission. His recent experience was not his first with the Boxers. In 1886, they 
drove him and his little band of workers out of Pekin. He escaped from them, 
barely saving his life. On the last occasion he did not run ; but, with adamantine 
purpose, he held at arm's length an empire of four hundred millions for fifty-six 
days. 

Professor Gamewell, like most real heroes, is as simple and modest as a 
child. In his public discourses he makes only the most humble references to 
his own personal relation to the tragedy. On several occasions I have heard 
him express his gratitude to God, for the providence which was so manifested 
in the relief of the besieged. Mr. Gamewell is of the opinion that the last 
" Boxer " uprising will be of untold spiritual value to the Chinese Empire ; 



no THE SPEAKING OAK 

that it will increase the security of the missionaries and multiply their useful- 
ness in the realm. He has a very high estimate of the average Chinaman, 
and believes that there are incalculable religious possibilities for him in the 
near future. 

There were many heroes in Pekin during the siege, but Americans, and 
Christians throughout the world, will be glad to know that there was no one 
among them greater than Francis D. Gamewell, the humble missionary of the 
Cross. 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S MORAL HEROISM 



WHEN Theodore Roosevelt was President of the Board of Police Com- 
missioners of New York City, and first began the rigid enforcement of the 
law closing the saloons on Sunday and at illegal hours, I preached a ser- 
mon in Park Avenue M. E. Church, of New York, of which I was the 
pastor, suggesting tliat it ought not to be considered a heroic thing for a public offi- 
cer to do his duty in accordance with the oath which he had taken, and the salary 
which he received ; but that vice was so dominant, and the sale of law so open 
and notorious, that it was considered a rash and foolish thing by one class, and 
a singularly heroic thing by another, for the head of the Police Department to 
dare to perform his sworn duty. I called earnestly upon the people to stand 
by the man for whom the good citizens had been long waiting, and help 
him to the success which his conscience and bravery deserved. I had never 
met Commissioner Roosevelt; I saw him in the New York delegation in the 
National Republican Convention at Chicago, which nominated Mr. Blaine and 
General Logan — he was a bright young man, fresh from Harvard, and attracted 
considerable attention at that early day. But on Monday, about noon, I went 
down to the office of the Police Commissioner and introduced myself to the 
president. Mr. Roosevelt said to me : " I read in the newspaper, this morn- 
ing, what you said in your pulpit yesterday, and thank you very much for the 
good advice you gave to the people. I did not make the law; I have been 
appointed to enforce it, and intend to do so." I said to him : " I am a very 
humble factor in this great city, but I want to stand up, and be counted in this 
conflict. I have come down this morning to tell you that I will stand by you 
in your work till the last hour of the last day. Whenever you shoot your big 
cannon at the enemy, I will fire off my small calibered pistol." The Commis- 
sioner said : " I thank you very much, and the more because such offers of 
sympathy and assistance are so rare. There are a hundred letters and telegrams 
lying on that table, telling me that I have injured the party and ruined myself 
politically by my course ; and you are almost the only man, thus far, who has 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES in 

commended me." And then pausing", and speaking more seriously, he said: 
" Well, even if you had not come, and no one were to commend my course, 
there is a voice above my conscience, which speaks very plainly to me, and 
which I intend to obey at whatever cost." I said to him : " Most of the best 
people of the city and of the State will be with you in this conflict; you are 
bound to have terrific opposition ; in the long run, your step will not be an 
unpopular one." Sure enough, when the people came to select a Governor for 
the Empire State, the fact that Colonel Roosevelt was a hero of the Spanish- 
American War was taken into account, but they also favored him because of 
his moral courage in fighting the wrong. 

In many cities, small and large, there is the same insolence of vice, and 
same sale of law; people of moral courage are required to stand up and rebuke 
and resist crime, and maintain law and order in the community. In the short 
run, moral heroism may not be popular, but in the long run it will be. But 
whether it be popular or unpopular, the right is to be done, because it is right. 



LINCOLN MAKES THE OLD MAN'S HEART GLAD 



APTAIN GREENE once related to me an incident illustrating Mr. Lin- 
coln's greatness of heart. He said, " I was in the Provost Marshal's de- 
partment in Washington, during the Civil War, and General Martindale 
sent me with some papers to President Lincoln for signature. He took 
them and said, ' I will look over them and give them to you soon ; meanwhile, take 
the papers for me to General Fry, and tell me what he says about them.' General 
Fry read the papers. They contained the proceedings and verdict of a military 
trial, condemning a young man to death. Mr. Lincoln had endorsed the papers, 
but had added, ' The execution in this case will be delayed until further orders 
from the President.' The general was much provoked, and said he deeply regret- 
ted the President's clemency. He said there had already been too much executive 
interference in such cases, and that it was breeding demoralization in the army. 
That evening I was in the United States Marshal's ofTfice and the President's 
action was freely discussed. Mr. John Alley, of Massachusetts, said : ' This 
morning I saw a plainly dressed old man walking back and forth in the lobby 
of the White House. He looked as though something was weighing very 
heavily on his heart. I had seen him walking back and forth in the same 
manner yesterday and the day before, and I went up to him and said, ' I have 
seen you here now three days, I hope you will not count me rude if I ask you 
what is the object of your visit to the White House.' He said, ' To see the 
President.' 'Is it a matter of great importance ? ' I asked. ' Yes, it is ! ' he 
replied. ' It is a matter of life and death ! ' I said to him, ' Come along with me.' 



112 THE SPEAKING OAK 

We made our way past the guards to the President. The man told his story, 
and begged for a pardon for his boy. Mr. Lincoln said, ' That case is all 
settled. The sentence of the court-martial is the death penalty, but I have 
ordered the execution suspended till further orders from me.' The man said, 
' Mr. President, that word brings very little relief to me. That is not a pardon. 
Won't you please pardon the boy? Won't you save a father from death by a 
broken heart, as well as his boy from the disgraceful end? I will not plead extenu- 
ating circumstances, which naturally fill a father's heart. I will only beg for your 
mercy.' Mr. Lincoln said, ' Go away, old man ! I say, go away from me. Get 
out of here ! Go home ! If you wait till I order your boy shot you will live 
to be as old as Methuselah.' The father clapped his hands and wept, and said, 
' Thank God ! I thank you, Mr. Lincoln, a million times. My boy will make 
a good soldier, and God will bless you for being so merciful to us.' The men 
in the office were much affected by Mr. Alley's recital of this pathetic incident, 
and no one dared to venture the opinion that such mercy would demoralize 
the army." 

I said, " Captain, there is no measuring line long enough to sound the 
depths of Lincoln's heart. His love conquered his enemies in the North and 
many of his foes in the South, and if he had lived long enough he would have 
conquered the whole of the Southland. Your friend, Henry W. Grady, of Georgia, 
in his address at the New England dinner given in New York, December 22, 
1886, shows what many of the ex-Confederates thought of him. Among other 
things the orator said, ' My friend. Dr. Talmage, has told you that the typical 
American has yet to come. Let me tell you he has already come. Great types, 
like valuable plants, are slow to flower and fruit. But from the union of these 
colonists, Puritans and Cavaliers, from the straightening of their purposes and the 
crossing of their blood, slow perfecting through a century, came he who stands 
as the first typical American, the first who comprehended within himself all the 
strength and gentleness, all the majesty and grace of this Republic — Abraham 
Lincoln. He was the son of a Puritan and Cavalier ; for in his ardent nature 
were fused the virtues of both, and in the depths of his great soul the faults of 
both were lost.' In the mixing of the clay and the blood, and in the creation 
of his spirit, it seems to me, Captain Greene, that Providence mingled in proper 
proportion in Grady's hero, your great friend, the majesty of might and the 
mastery of love." 

The new commandment to love one another, which Christ came to enforce, 
is very strict, but loyal believers are expected to obey it. When we remember 
that our love for our fellow men is to be measured by Christ's love for us, and 
that that measure has been expressed in his death in our behalf, all human 
words seem cold and tame and imperfect in their attempts to convey its meaning. 
We do know, however, that Christ came down from the tree on which he 
hung for us, to conquer the world by his love, that Paul and his companions 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 113 

mastered Europe with their love and through it the rest of the world, and that 
we are to make our spiritual conquests by the same love. 

The boy was pardoned, not because he was good, nor even because of the 
petitions and tears of the father, but on account of the great love of the Pres- 
ident's heart. Souls condemned to death are pardoned and saved, not because 
they are worthy, but on account of the love of the Infinite Father, and the 
death and continual intercession of His only Son in their behalf. 



A BOY SAVES HIS ENEMY FROM DROWNING 



THE Christian Herald, through an able committee in New York City, 
awarded medals for acts of unusual heroism. The applicant for this 
honor had to come from the walks of every-day life and outside the ranks 
of paid or professional service, such as firemen, policemen, etc. The first 
medal was awarded to William Roher, of Delta, Pa., in recognition of his brave 
and humane act in rescuing Oliver Weiser from death by drowning. Although the 
young medallist is but a lad, yet, from a large and gallant company of heroes and 
heroines, he was chosen as the one to whom, all things considered, the highest 
honors were due. The deed for which this award was made, was described by 
Oliver Weiser, Sr., Postmaster at Delta, in the following letter: 

" On a winter's afternoon, a number of children had repaired to Ramsay's 
Pond to skate. The pond was eight to ten feet deep. At some distance from 
the bank, the ice gave way under my son Oliver, and he was submerged, 
his head and shoulders alone excepted. He struggled a number of times to 
climb upon the ice, but as often it broke under his weight, the hole widening 
with his efforts. William Roher, a lad of fourteen, threw himself flat upon 
his stomach and began to crawl towards Ollie, directing his comrades to catch 
him and each other in turn by the feet, until a human chain should be formed 
to the bank. It was a desperately hard and dangerous task for the brave boy 
and his brave helpers, but they succeeded in getting my son from under the 
ice and safely to shore. During the progress of the work, Roher was in immi- 
nent peril, as he must have known he would be when he started out to save 
Ollie. He became partly submerged, and it looked as if he, too, would be lost 
under the ice, but he never once relaxed his grip on Ollie. What adds to the 
value of his noble and unselfish deed is the fact that the two boys have hereto- 
fore been opponents and antagonists ; their quarrelings twice resulting in Roh- 
er's having his head badly cut by stones, on one occasion necessitating the 
services of a surgeon in repairing the wound. His bravery is all the more 
creditable in that he sunk all personal differences in the hour of danger and 
trouble, and imperiled his life to save another's. William is a manly little 



114 THE SPEAKING OAK 

fellow and, when not at school, is workini^ to help support his mother and sisters." 
The committee considered many cases of signal bravery, upon the part of 
people high and low, rich and poor, old and young. Some had rescued rel- 
atives, some friends, some even strangers, but the boy saved his enemy, one 
who had injured him. And this fact was justly regarded as a reason why he 
should receive the medal. 

Those who are entertaining grudges against their neighbors, who are 
laving plans to resent some injury or to get even with some enemy, could 
piofitably read and consider the story of this boy's forgiveness and love. He 
acted a great deal like one who had been in the school of Christ and learned 
of him. His medal, and similar ones, will be eloquent sermons, preaching to 
tens of thousands of people the principles of self-sacrifice, of magnanimity, and 
of bravery. The heroic act of this boy was one ray of the sun of the Saviour's 
love ; was one drop of the ocean of his sacrifice. For when we were yet without 
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 



FAITH AND WORKS 



e* 



I 



N the year 891 the Danes invaded the kingdom of the West Saxons, bent on 
conquest and the extinction of Christianity. Ethelred was king of the 
Saxons, and commanded one wing of his army, while his brother and suc- 
cessor, Alfred, commanded the other force. The opposing armies en- 
camped near one another at Aescesdune, resting in readiness for the decisive battle, 
which should be fought the next day. At early dawn, Ethelred gathered all his 
officers into his tent for worship, assured that the issue of the day would depend 
upon the favor of heaven. Alfred was eager for the contest, and drew his men up 
in battle array, inciting them to courage. Impatient at his brother's delay, he went 
out to meet the Danes and fought with marvelous skill and courage, but was 
facing probable defeat, when Ethelred, his devotions ended, marched to his assist- 
ance, and together they turned the tide of defeat into victory and checked the 
progress of the invader. 

Some think that it was the prayers of Ethelred, and others that it was the 
soldiers of Alfred that gave victory that day. The praying and the fighting 
were both necessary to success. The prayer for divine help and the sharp steel 
of the men were both arms of God in the conflict. The Anglo-Saxon since 
that fight has waged wars for which there can be no justification ; but he has 
also fought many just battles for Hberty and God, in which his overcoming 
faith and keen sword have been factors equally essential. In the Christian 
conflict, faith without works is death, works without faith are death, but faith 
and works are life. We are to watch and fight and pray. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 115 

GOD IN THE CONSTITUTION 



HE United States, in the beginning of the war with Spain, expressly stated 
that it was not the intention to appropriate, but to protect Cuba. After 
the war, the Government at Washington administered the affiairs of the 
island till the people should be ready to undertake the experiment of self- 
government. 

In the Constitutional Convention there occurred quite a struggle over the 
question of the separation of Church and State. Article thirteen originally con- 
tained the declaration that the Church was to be separated from the State. The 
Central Committee struck it out, leaving the Church and State united. A motion 
was made for a restoration of the original article, and an animated debate fol- 
lowed, participated in by the ablest speakers. On motion, the original article 
declaring a separation between Church and State was carried; and to make the 
separation more emphatic, another motion was carried that no subsidies or finan- 
cial aid from the State should be granted to the Church. The members, we 
think, did wisely. History has shown that while it is a good thing to have a 
union between God and the State, a union between Church and State is dangerous 
to both. 

Another question which excited the deepest interest in the Convention was 
that of God in the Constitution. In the preamble there occurs the phrase, 
" Invocando el favor de Dios." Salvador Cisneros moved to strike it out. 
Sr. Lolrente, one of the ablest men and lawyers of Cuba, arose and made an 
eloquent plea for the retention of that part of the preamble which implored 
the favor of God. 

The venerable speaker presented a beautiful picture. He was more than 
three score years and ten, with hair and beard white as the driven snow. 
The snow was on his head, but the fires of a volcano were burning in his heart. 
His face was a study in its play of eager and absorbed expression. There was 
something finely dramatic as this man stood with earnest tone and gesture to de- 
clare as one who stood " near to the close of life " that the members of that 
Convention were not the representatives of an atheistic people. His views were 
shared by a majority of the members, and the word of God was put in the Con- 
stitution of the republic of Cuba. 

I trust that the verbal declaration in the preamble may be the expression of 
the prayers of the Cuban people that the God of nations may lead them. It 
would have been well to have put in the Constitution of the United States a 
recognition of Divine Providence. But we rejoice in the fact that the Spirit of 
God has been in our Constitution and in its administration from the beginning 
until now, and that, despite the weaknesses and faults and sins of our people, we 
have been and are now a Christian nation — " that nation whose God is the 
Lord." 



ii6 THE SPEAKING OAK 

LORD ASBURTON AND THOMAS CARLYLE 



DR. JAMES McCOSH, before he came to this country to become the Pres- 
ident of Princeton College, was visited at his home in Ireland by Lord 
Ashburton, the man who settled the line between the United States and 
Canada. He said to the doctor : " I am in great trouble, my heart is 
broken. My dear wife has recently died. She was my idol, the apple of my eye. 
She was a great friend of Thomas Carlyle, and I asked Mr. Carlyle what I should 
do to have peace and make me the kind of a man I ought to be. He simply told me 
to go and read Goethe's IVilhelm Mcister. I read it carefully, and found nothing 
to comfort or improve me. I went back to him, and asked him what particular 
lesson he wanted me to learn from that book. His answer was, ' Read IVilhelm 
Meister! ' I have done so again, but find nothing to meet my necessity. Do 
you know what Mr. Carlyle meant, or what there is in the book he recom- 
mended to give me relief ? " Dr. McCosh said he did not know what the great 
essayist meant nor what there was in the book to comfort him ; that it was not 
in the power of Carlyle nor Goethe to supply the balm his soul needed. Then he 
recommended to the heartbroken nobleman Jesus Christ as the only cure for 
man's sorrows and sins. It took Goethe twenty years to write Wilhclm Master's 
Apprenticeship. It is the story of a young man who grows tired of being a 
traveling salesman for his father's business house in a little town in Germany, 
and goes off with a theatre troupe and learns the art and becomes an actor. Not 
succeeding in the profession, he seeks the company of those who are richer and 
more cultivated, and after a series of unhappy experiences he marries a rich lady 
and becomes a landed proprietor. The promotion of this young man from a clerk- 
ship in a country store to the proprietorship of an estate, or from association 
with a second-class traveling troupe to a position in society amongst the no- 
bility of the realm, traced by even so great a genius as Goethe, has no possible 
comfort in it for a man who has lost his wife and is afraid he will lose his soul. 
And yet literature, philosophy, society, and false religion are constantly recom- 
mending their unavailing substitutes for Christ, the only balm, the only cure of 
the soul. When our loved ones die, Christ alone can comfort us. 

v» ^• ^• 

MAGNANIMITY 



^ 



I 



F Senator Francis M. Cockrell, of Missouri, shall live till the close of his 
present term, he will have served his State thirty consecutive years in the 
United States Senate, a period equal to that of the illustrious Thomas 
Benton, of the same State. At the close of the Civil War Mr. Cockrell 
was a Brigadier-General in the Confederate army, and, returning to his native 
State, he began the practice of lavv^ He had never sought office till 1874, when his 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 117 

friends insisted on presenting him to the State Democratic Convention for nomina- 
tion for Governor. After a most exciting struggle, he was defeated for the nomi- 
nation by Mr. C. H. Hardin, by one-sixth of one vote. His friends knew he was 
sorely disappointed, and feared his political sun had set ; but when the ballot was 
announced, Mr. Cockrell sprang to his feet, threw to the ceiling his gray slouch 
hat, and with a ringing shout called for three cheers for the nominee. The effect 
was magical. When the members of the convention had recovered from their 
surprise they gave three cheers for Cockrell and three more, and the cheering 
continued for several minutes. The defeated man's magnanimity won the Hardin 
men to him, as well as intensified the loyalty of his own men, and made him 
the logical and invincible candidate for the United States Senatorship the same 
year. There is scarcely a State in the Union large enough to hold in peace 
rival political candidates, even of the same faith. There would be good policy, 
as well as splendid principle, if in political life and every other field of endeavor 
there could be the substitution of appreciation for envy, of magnanimity for hate. 



MISSIONARY ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT McKINLEY 



THE Ecumenical Missionary Conference began its important sessions in the 
Carnegie Music Hall, New York City, April 21, 1900. The meeting at 

night was one of unusual interest. William McKinley, the President; 

Theodore Roosevelt, Governor of the State, and Benjamin Harrison, ex- 
President, were announced to make addresses. As many people were on the outside 
of the building, striving in vain for entrance, as there were those who crowded 
within the house. President McKinley, leaning upon the arm of Morris K. Jessup, 
the chairman of the meeting, was the signal for the most tumultuous applause. 
There were the clapping of hands and the enthusiastic waving of hats and hand- 
kerchiefs. On being introduced by the chairman, it was some moments before 
the cheers of the audience would allow the President to proceed. He then 
made the following address: 

" I am glad of the opportunity to oflter without stint my tribute of praise 
and respect to the missionary effort which has wrought such wonderful tri- 
umphs for civilization. The story of the Christian missions is one of thrilling 
interest and marvelous results. The services and sacrifices of the missionaries 
for their fellow men constitute one of the most glorious pages of the world's 
history. The missionary, of whatever church or ecclesiastical body, who devotes 
his life to the service of the Master and of men, carrying the torch of truth and 
enlightenment, deserves the gratitude, the support and the homage of mankind. 
The noble, self-sacrificing, willing ministers of peace and good-will should be 
classed with the world's heroes. Wielding the sword of the Spirit, they have 



ii8 THE SPEAKING OAK 

conquered ignorance and prejudice. They have been among the pioneers of 
civiHzation. They have illumined the darkness of idolatry and superstition 
with the light of intelligence and truth. They have been messengers of 
righteousness and love. They have braved disease and danger and death, and 
in their exile have suffered unspeakable hardships ; but their noble spirits have 
never wavered. They count their labor no sacrifice ; 'Away with the word in 
such a view and with such a thought,' says David Livingstone ; 'it is emphatically 
no sacrifice ; say, rather, it is a privilege.' They furnish us examples of for- 
bearance, fortitude, of patience and unyielding purpose, and of spirit which tri- 
umphs not by the force of might, but by the persuasive majesty of right. They 
are placing in the hands of their brothers less fortunate than themselves the 
keys which unlock the treasuries of knowledge and open the mind to noble 
aspirations for better conditions. Education is one of the indispensable steps of 
mission enterprise, and in some form must precede all successful work. Who 
can estimate their value to the progress of nations? Their contribution to the 
onward and upward march of humanity is beyond all calculation. They have 
inculcated industry and taught the various trades. They have promoted concord 
and amity and have brought nations and races closer together. They have made 
men better. They have increased the regard for home ; have strengthened the 
sacred ties of family ; have made the community well-ordered, and their work 
has been a potent influence in the development of law and the establishment 
of government. May this great meeting rekindle the spirit of missionary ardor 
and enthusiasm to ' go teach all nations,' and may the field never lack a succes- 
sion of heralds who shall carry on the task — the continuous proclamation of his 
Gospel to the end of time." Then followed the addresses of Governor Roosevelt 
and ex-President Harrison. 

It should be a matter of congratulation to the Christian people of the world 
that the President of the Republic, the ex-President whom he succeeded, and the 
Governor of the Empire State, should have thus recorded themselves in favor of 
our holy religion and manifested their co-operation in its universal propagation. 



UNCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE 



G 



OING from New York west, to the home of my childhood, for a Sabbath, 
I was invited to make an address in the afternoon at a meeting of the 
Young Men's Christian Association. The splendid building, which was 
the property of the Association, was beautiful and complete in all its ap- 
pointments . Its chapel was filled with people at the service. The General Secre- 
tary, before introducing me, gave a short history of the organization from its begin- 
ning, and, to my astonishment, he named me as the founder of the organization in 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 119 

the city. There had almost faded from my memory the fact, that between thirty 
and forty years before I had gathered a few young- men together, solicited funds 
and secured a room in the business part of the city, where reading material was 
supplied, and where religious meetings at stated times were held; and it was 
hard to realize that, out of that humble, insignificant start, the great Associa- 
tion, with its fine building and its efficient work, had sprung. I was treated 
to another surprise as the secretary continued : " Some years ago I attended a 
revival service at a church in this city, and the minister preached a sermon 
which touched my heart, at the close of which I felt myself drawn irresistibly 
into the number of those who went forward as penitents. I was but a little 
boy, and the minister kneeled down and, bending over me, talked with and 
prayed for me. I found then and there a peace in Christ which has remained 
with me till this day. The minister who led me to Christ is the one who is to 
address you this hour." I recalled the revival service and the meetings, where 
some little children came forward and gave themselves to Christ, but I did not 
recall the particular boy who had grown to be the secretary of the Association. 
It seemed that, going from the meeting, he united with another church to which 
his people belonged, and I did not have an opportunity to identify him. I did 
not know that I had been instrumental in leading the secretary to Christ, until he 
reveajed the fact to me in his introductory remarks. 

God only knows what vast harvests spring out of the smallest seed of 
right intention or holy endeavor. There is an immortality of good deeds on 
this side of the grave. The unseen, unconscious influence which we may have 
among men, is a thousandfold greater than any visible power we may exert. 



THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN 



LORD BEACONSFIELD more than a generation ago, wrote a novel in 
which he undertook to find a cure for the political evils of Europe. He 
sent a young man from the Thames to the Jordan and Mt. Sinai. The 
young man prayed, and as he prayed he fell into a trance, and in the 
trance he saw a form hovering over the nations of Europe, and heard these words 
coming down : " The brotherhood of the race by the Fatherhood of God." Gen- 
eral Harrison, in one of his great speeches, said : " The tendency is not to one 
brotherhood, but to many. Work for the willing at a wage that will save the spirit 
as well as the body is a problem of increasing tangle and intricacy. Competition 
forces economical devices and names wages that are in some cases insufficient to re- 
new strength expended. Agencies of man's devising may alleviate, but they 
cannot cure this tendency to division and strife and substitute for it a drift to 
peace and unity. Christ in the heart, and his gospel of love and ministry in all 



120 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the activities of life are the only cure. The highest conception that has ever 
entered the mind of man is that of God as the Father of all men — the one blood, 
the universal brotherhood. It was not evolved, but revealed. The natural man 
lives to be ministered unto; he lays his imposts on others. He buys slaves that 
they may fan him to sleep, bring him the jeweled cup, dance before him, and die in 
the arena for his sport. Into such a world there came a King, not to be minis- 
tered unto but to minister. The rough winds fanned his sleep. He drank of 
the mountain brook, and made not the water wine for himself. He would not 
use his power to stay his own hunger, but he had compassion on the multitude. 
Them he had bought with a great price he called no more servants, but 
friends. He entered the bloody arena alone, and, dying, broke all chains and 
brought life and immortality to light. Here is the perfect altruism ; here the 
true appraisal of men. Ornaments of gold and gems, silken robes, houses, 
lands, stocks and bonds — these are tare when men are weighed. Where else 
is there a scale so true ? Where a brotherhood so wide and perfect ? To this 
King no coin of love is base or small. The widow's mite He sets in his crown. 
Life is sweetened. The poor man becomes of account. Where else is found a 
philosophy of life so sweet, a philosophy of death so comforting? " 

Many of the remedies suggested for the world's industrial dif^culties are 
only a piece of court-plaster on the little finger-nail to cure a terrible cancer 
within the body. The blood of Christ is the only real cure. Christ, with one 
hand that was pierced with nails, can take the hand of wealth, and with the other he 
can take the hand of poverty and enfold them in the embrace of a loving brother- 
hood. His voice alone can quell the fierce tumult of passion, and hush into a 
calm the angry storm of industrial strife. He saves communities as he saves 
men — by the moral purification of the individual heart. Christ hovers over 
our nation ; the blood from his hands, his feet and his sides, sprinkles the Consti- 
tution at Washington and the Constitutions of the States, and this voice comes 
down to us : " The brotherhood of the race, by the Fatherhood of God, through 
the blood of His Son." 



STONEWALL JACKSON 

TONEWALL JACKSON was the idol of the Southern people, and was 
respected by the people of the North for his qualities as a military com- 
mander and as a man. He was a silent man, like Grant, and more mys- 
terious. He was often heard to say, " Mystery; mystery is the secret of 
success." His plans were not revealed to his nearest lieutenants imtil the moment 
he struck his blow. He would gather information about the country and have 
charts made of the same, when he intended to operate his campaign in the opposite 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 121 

direction. He said if his coat knew what he intended to do he would take it off and 
burn it. As a strategist he recognized the weak as well as the strong points of the 
situation, and also the strong as well as the weak points of the enemy. Amidst the 
infinite details he had a genius for selecting essentials and for striking when 
and where he would do the enemy the greatest damage. He was tender in 
heart and devout in spirit, but the qualities which gave him his rank and influ- 
ence in the Confederate army were his all-daring courage and indomitable will. 
At the first battle of Manassas, General Bee rode up and down the line. Meeting 
General Jackson, he said, " General, they are beating us back." His answer 
was, " Sir, we will give them the bayonet." Receiving new courage from these 
words, he rode back to his men and said, " There is Jackson standing like a stone 
wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Follow me." They 
did follow him into the thickest of the fight, where he fell mortally wounded, 
but not until he had changed the name of General Thomas Jonathan Jackson 
to that of Stonewall Jackson, which title he bore till his death, and which meant 
more in the estimation of the people both North and South than the lieutenant- 
generalship with which he was honored. His brigade was also known as the 
" Stonewall." 

In the great battle of life, where the spiritual foes are so numerous and 
their weapons so effective, moral courage is absolutely necessary to turn the 
assaults that threaten destruction into victories. It is the business of every 
church and every soldier of the Cross, to stand like a stone wall against moral 
evil in the defense of virtue and of piety. 



NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS COWARDICE 



NAPOLEON BONAPARTE was not as large a man as he was a general 
and ruler. His selfishness, ambition and gigantic plans of earthly con- 
quest, left him little time for the enjoyment of religious sentiments or the 
performance of religious duties. This fact was a source of great regret 
when his confinement at St. Helena gave him opportunity and disposition for 
meditation. He has left on record the following remarkable confession: 

" Upon the throne, surrounded by generals far from devout — yes. I will not 
deny it — I had too much regard for public opinion, and far too much timidity ; 
and perhaps I did not dare say aloud, ' I am a believer.' I said, ' Religion is 
a power, a political engine,' but even then, if any one had questioned me 
directly, I should have replied, * Yes, I am a Christian.' And if it had been 
necessary to confess my faith at the price of martyrdom, I should have found 
all my firmness. Yes, I should have endured it, rather than deny my religion ! 
But now that I am at St. Helena, why should I dissemble that which I believe 



122 THE SPEAKING OAK 

at the bottom of my heart? Here I live for myself. I wish for a priest. I 
desire the communion of the Lord's Supper and to confess what I believe." 

If it were not for this confession, it would scarcely be believed that the 
man who dared all Europe and| sought the most dangerous places on the 
battlefield, fearing- the deadly missiles no more than falling leaves or flakes 
of snow, could have been such a religious coward. Carlyle, in comparing 
Cromwell's religion with Napoleon's want of religion in public life, explains 
that the scepticism of France made an unfriendly atmosphere for the Em- 
peror's faith. This moral cowardice was Napoleon's greatest mistake. If 
he had publicly confessed Christ, and carefully lived him during his administra- 
tion, his character would have come up to the measure of his genius. 

It is absolutely necessary to confess Christ if we would continue to pos- 
sess him. The Holy Spirit will never continue his residence in a soul which 
is afraid or ashamed to confess his presence there. The dumb Christian is 
the dead one. So many have been paralyzed in their religious activity through 
fear of the criticism of unbelievers ; so many have been lost by a failure to 
enter upon the divine life because they were afraid of the laughs and scoffs of 
others. There is every reason why Christ ought to be ashamed of us, and 
none why we ought to be ashamed of him. 



WOMAN'S LOVE FOR HER COUNTRY 



w 



HEN the Greeks were about to set sail in their expedition against Troy, 
Agamemnon offended the gods, and they declared that his army should 
not be successful in the undertaking until he should offer his daughter 
Iphigenia as a sacrifice. The struggle between his duty as the com- 
mander of the army and his affection for his daughter almost set him crazy. At 
the urgent entreaties of his brother Menelaus and the soldiers, he determined to 
offer the sacrifice. Under the pretense of giving her in marriage to Achilles, he 
sent a letter to his wife and daughter, summoning them to his camp. After the let- 
ter had been sent his heart was so troubled that he spent a whole night in agonizing 
debate with himself. " He had a lamp before him and in his hand a tablet of pine 
wood whereon he wrote. But he seemed not to remain in the same mind about that 
which he wrote; for now he would blot out the letters and then would write 
them again ; and now he fastened the seal upon the tablet, and then he broke it. 
And as he did this he wept and was like to a man distracted." The letter he 
signed and sealed at last countermanded the first one, and ordered the daughter 
to remain at home. The courier had scarcely started upon the journey when he 
met the mother and daughter in a royal chariot coming to the marriage. When 
the daughter discovered the deceit, she made this heartrending plea for her life: 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 123 

"I would, my father, that I had the voice of Orpheus, who made even the 
rocks to follow him, that I might persuade thee ; but now all that I have I give, 
even these tears. O, my father, I am thy child ; slay me not before my time. 
This light is sweet to look upon ; drive me not from it, to the land of darkness. 
I was the first to call thee father and the first to whom thou didst say, 'my child.' 
I hoped thou wouldst say to me, ' Some day, my child, I shall see thee a happy 
wife in the home of a rich husband,' and I would answer, 'And I will receive thee 
with all love when thou art old, and pay thee back for all the benefits thou hast 
done unto me.' Have pity upon me and slay me not." When she learned that 
the fate of the army hung upon the event she freely consented to die. Achilles, 
when he saw the injustice of the father in deceiving her, and saw her beautiful 
person and more beautiful heroism, insisted on her becoming his wife in these 
words : " Lady, I love thee well, when I see how noble thou art. And if thou 
wilt, I will carry thee to my home." Menelaus himself relented, and asked the 
father to spare his daughter and disband the army. The daughter refused the 
clemency, and insisted on offering herself as a sacrifice for her country. 

Although only a few women have led armies or carried weapons, from the 
earliest ages woman has been singularly loyal to her country. During the 
very siege made possible by the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the women of Troy cut 
off their hair to make bow-strings, and asked the men to send the arrow to the 
heart of the foe. Woman not only has to bear and train the men that become 
the soldiers, but in time of war she has to endure the hardships and make 
sacrifices corresponding to those of the men in the field. The added responsi- 
bilities and the diminished support caused by the absence of the men, are as 
severe as the toils or trials of the men on the march or in the camp. And 
the agony of heart at the loneliness and fear of danger to the loved ones, the 
news of sickness, wounds or death, is as great as that endured by the soldier at 
the front. The tears of love she sheds are just as sacred and made out of the 
same material as the blood that stains the field of battle. The pen of history 
and of poetry, able and faithful though it has been, has not justly recorded the 
loyalty and heroism of American women or fittingly embalmed their deeds. 



THE HUMILITY OF A QUEEN 



a 



UEEN VICTORLA. had greater reason to feel proud than any one in 
the world, and yet she was the humblest of women. While at Balmoral, 
she visited, socially, the homes of the plain people in the neighborhood; 
the poor to aid them, the afflicted to comfort them, the rest to make 
them happy. One of the women in the village lost her husband about the time 
Albert died. The Queen called upon her. She wept, and begged the Queen's par- 



124 THE SPEAKING OAK 

don for doing so. The Queen answered, " Your tears do me good. You see I am 
mingling mine with yours, and the crying of each will do the other good." Another 
home she visited where an aged husband had died. She had a lock of the man's 
hair cut off and placed in a beautiful breastpin, which she gave to the aged widow 
the day of the funeral, and reminded her that the separation would be but for a 
short time. Her faithful servants were the especial objects of her affection. 
Several seasons she invited all the servants of the Castle of Balmoral in parties 
of ten to be her guests at Windsor. One of her last acts before her fatal stroke 
was to climb to the top of the palace to minister to a servant who was ill. 
And one of her last requests on earth was that a favorite servant might be 
brought into her room. She fulfilled the prophecy of the Master that " the 
meek shall inherit the earth." What a democratic example was set by this 
monarch. With her humility she lifted up the millions of her common people, 
and her sympathy was a healing balm which cured the sorrowing hearts of many 
of her subjects. Wealth, social position, and power appear to best advantage and 
accomplish their mission only by copying the example of the humble Queen, in 
recognizing the brotherhood of the race and the Fatherhood of God. 



A SERMON IN A BASKET OF PROVISIONS 



DR. RUSSELL H. CONWELL, of Philadelphia, who preaches to more 
people every Sunday than any other minister of the globe, has a way of 
saving men by his practical benevolences, as well as by his sermons. 
Two fast young men, with their young lady acquaintances, attended 
Dr. Conwell's church one Sunday night, and after the services entered upon a dis- 
cussion of the merits of the pastor. The young men insisted that the pastor 
was in the profession, like other ministers, for the money there is in it. The 
girls protested against such an unjust estimate of their pastor. Some time after 
that these two young men came reeling out of a saloon, at midnight, at the 
same time that a tall man and a little girl passed by the door. The man was 
saying to the girl, " My dear child, why did you not tell me that you were in 
need? You know that I would not let you suffer." The young men heard the 
conversation, and one of them said : " That is Conwell." " No," the other 
answered, " you are mistaken, it is not he." " I tell you that was Conwell's 
voice, let us go after him." And through the driving snow they followed the 
tall man with the basket of provisions on one arm, and leading the child by the 
hand, to a hovel of want, where the need was supplied, and the half-drunk men 
in the winter's storm wept as they said, " That man does not preach for money, 
but for love." A spirit of conviction there and then seized their hearts; and 
they united, on profession of faith, with the Grace Baptist Church, and became 




'THAT MAX DOES NOT PREACH FOR MONEY, BUT FOR LOVE" (125) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 127 

faithful workers with the loyal, steadfast supporters of the pastor, Dr. Conwell. 
Any estimate of the Ministerial profession which attributes to it any but 
the highest motives is unjust. There are degrees of unselfishness and conse- 
cration amongst the ministers, as amongst the layman : the average preacher 
we believe to be a man of devout spirit and of practical benevolence. He 
saves the people by what he does as well as what he says ; by his services in 
the homes of the people, especially those of the poor, as well as by his sermons 
in the sanctuary. Human love under grace divine can break the hardest heart 
and bring it to Christ. 



THE BROKEN CABLE DID NOT DISCOURAGE HIM 



F" EW of us, as we read of it, realize what terrible struggles were necessary to 
make such a thing possible, or what a debt of gratitude is due Cyrus 
Field for having successfully laid the first Atlantic cable. Mr. Field was 
a dry-goods clerk in A. T. Stewart's store, where his ability and service 
secured him the promotion which he deserved. He began business for himself by 
manufacturing paper. At the early age of thirty-six he found himself with a com- 
petency, and in his leisure turned his attention to literature, art and travel. It 
occurred to him that the news between London and New York could be con- 
siderably shortened by a telegraph line from Newfoundland, where the ships 
touched first, to New York City. On consultation with Peter Cooper, who was 
his next-door neighbor, and two or three other special friends, he organized a 
company for the purpose. The difficult problem was the cable connection in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, but he set himself to the task with courage and energy, 
and though, after having laid forty miles of the cable in the gulf, it broke, and 
had to lie useless for a year, he renewed his endeavors, which were crowned 
with success. This success led him to believe in the possibility and probability 
of submarine communication between England and America, and he went to 
London for the purpose of organizing a company to establish it. Although he 
secured the co-operation of men of wealth and influence, and obtained favors 
from the British Parliament and American Congress, he had a succession of most 
aggravating failures. The American Government detailed two ships to help on 
this side, and the British Government two ships to help on the other side. At 
first they tied the cable to either shore, and unwound it as the ships approached 
each other. It broke and was mended a number of times, till at last it reached 
three hundred miles from the American shore, when it snapped for good, a 
hundred miles of it being at the bottom of the water, two miles deep. Then 
the project was tried of splicing the cable in mid-ocean and unrolling it from 
the ships toward either shore. It snapped often and was mended as many times. 



128 THE SPEAKING OAK 

till at last it reached two-thirds of the way across the ocean and worked splen- 
didly, when it broke and had to be left useless in the bottom of the ocean. 
Another one was made, and after many difficulties it was stretched from shore 
to shore, and this first message was sent over it : " Glory to God in the 
highest ; on earth peace, good-will toward men." There was the wildest rejoicing 
in the Old World and in the New; the enthusiasm in America was unbounded, 
because one of its own sons, under such great discouragements, had given success 
to the enterprise. But the shouts of the people had scarcely died down before 
the tiling quit working and was dead forever. A cable of better material was 
made, and the Great Eastern laid it down to stay, and the problem of submarine 
telegraphy was settled forever. 

It makes one proud of his race, to see an imperial will like that of Cyrus 
Field overcome such obstacles as confronted him. They were almost endless 
in succession and as high as mountains. That will stood undaunted in the face 
of twelve years of failure, because he had such faith in his ability to fasten the 
two hemispheres with steel ; and, sure enough, on the thirteenth year, his supreme 
purpose overcame every barrier and gave him success. 

Mr. Field's faith in Divine Providence was as sure as his will was strong; 
like Professor Morse, he had unfaltering faith in God and a personal knowledge 
of Jesus Christ. He was so wrapped up in the one work to which he had given 
so much of his life, that he prayed earnestly to God every day that he might be 
spared to accomplish his purpose. At a banquet given to him by the Chamber 
of Commerce of New York, he acknowledged his gratitude to God for having 
answered his prayer, in the following words : 

" It has been a long struggle. Nearly thirteen years of anxious watching 
and ceaseless toil. Often my heart has been ready to sink. Many times, when 
wandering in the forests of Newfoundland in the pelting rain, or on the decks 
of ships on dark, stormy nights, alone, far from home, I have almost accused 
myself of madness and folly to sacrifice the peace of my family and all the hopes 
of life for what might prove, after all, but a dream. I have seen my com- 
panions, one and another, falling by my side, and I feared that I might not live 
to see the end. And yet one hope has led me on, and I have prayed that I 
might not taste of death till this work was accomplished. That prayer was 
answered, and now, beyond all acknowledgments to men, is the feeling of grati- 
tude to Almighty God." 

There will be some cable that will break about every day, but it must be 
mended and the work continued. A strong will is indispensable in overcoming 
earthly difficulties and in surmounting spiritual obstacles. It is when the human 
will is energized by the Divine Will that there is the greatest power or success 
for either world. It is only thus that the difficulites of the sea can be overcome, 
and successful communication be established between the rocky coasts of time 
and the golden shores of eternity. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 129 

TWO IRISHMEN WHO FOUND GOLD 



T" wo Irish miners came from California to Virginia City, Nevada, and hired 
themselves out to dig on the side of Mount Davidson. They were too 
poor to stop at a boarding-house, so they erected a log cabin and did their 
own cooking, after going into the woods to kill game for food. They not 
only dug with their arms, but with their eyes as well, studying the gradations 
of the earth, the formation of the rock, and discovering signs that pointed to an 
unlimited supply of silver and gold. The owners of the property had been 
discouraged at their vain search for metal, and offered to sell the whole plant 
for eighty thousand dollars. These two miners said to each other, " If we 
could get some one to put up the money we would buy out this property 
and dig for quantities of gold." They went over to see two men who kept 
a store near by, who put up the money, and the mine was bought. Before 
the four men struck the '' lead " they " struck a snag," and found money and 
credit gone, with no new sign of gold. The other miners laughed and made 
fun of them. 

One morning, when things seemed at their darkest, a friend said 
to one of them, "John, luck has gone against you. Why don't you quit?" 
The answer came promptly : " The man who figures on luck in mining is 
a fool ; the man who figures on doing a lot of hard work and not losing his 
grit, will get something." It was not long after this a report reached the town 
that these men had struck a body of ore. The next morning the stock had gone 
from eighty cents to two hundred and fifty dollars a share ; the morning after, to 
five hundred dollars a share ; the following day it went " out of sight," and in two 
weeks John W. IMackay and James G. Fair, the two miners, and James L. Ford 
and William O'Brien, were rich beyond all calculation. 

There is no such thing as luck in the religious world. Success comes by 
the hardest kind of work. Spiritual silver and gold are gotten out of Mt. Zion 
only by continuous digging. Only a small proportion of those who dig for 
gold in the earth find it ; all of those who toil patiently in the spiritual realm 
find the precious metal. 



FAITHFUL AT HIS POST 



DURING the siege of Gibraltar, a German soldier, who was in the British 
service, had been wounded in the hand, and when the governor, General 
Elliot, who was on a tour of inspection, approached him, he did not pre- 
sent arms, as it was his duty to do. The general, noticing the omission, 
said, " Don't you know me, sentinel? How is it that you neglect your duty?" The 
soldier replied, " I know you well, general, and my duty also ; but within the last 



130 THE SPEAKING OAK 

few minutes two of the fingers of my right hand have been shot off, and I am 
unable to hold my musket." "Why don't you go and have them bound up?" 
" Because, in Germany a man is forbidden to quit his post until he is relieved by 
another." The general, hastily dismounting, said: "Now, my friend, give me 
your musket and I will relieve you. Go and have your wounds dressed." 

The soldier obeyed, and left the general standing at his post. The news 
of the man's bravery reached England, and though his injury unfitted him for 
active campaigns, he was retained in the service, and promoted. 

The respect which the ruler and the subject had for the discipline of the 
camp, the fidelity of the soldier to his duty, and the kindness and humility, 
which led the general to take the place of the private soldier, are all admirable 
qualities, and are needed in the soldiers of the Cross, from the highest officer 
to the humblest member. 



A FATHER'S ADVICE TO HIS SON 



WHEN Benjamin Franklin was a young man, just before he started in busi- 
ness for himself, he went from Philadelphia to Boston to make a visit of 
three days at his father's home. That he might enjoy every minute of the 
time with his father, he insisted upon going into his soap factory and 
candle shop to work with him. On the afternoon of the third day, as they walked 
down the garden path, at the foot of which the factory stood, the father, who 
iiad appeared unusually bright and happy during the whole visit, became quite 
sad at the thought of the parting that was to ensue, and gave his boy some 
excellent advice. He said : " We part to-morrow, and perhaps never to meet 
again. Then, O, my son, what a wretch were man without religion ! Yes, 
Ben, without the hope of immortality, how much better he had never been 
born ! Without these, his noblest capacities were but the greater curses. The 
more delightful his friendships, the more dreadful the thought that they may 
be extinguished forever ; and the gayer his prospects, the deeper his gloom 
that endless darkness may so quickly cover all ! We were yesterday feeding 
fond hopes, my son ; we were yesterday painting bright castles in the air ; 
you were to be a great man and I a happy father. But, alas ! this is the last 
day, my child, that we may ever see each other again, and the sad reverse 
of this may even now be at the door — when I, instead of hearing of my son's 
glory in Philadelphia, may hear that he is cold in his grave ! And when you, 
returning, after years of virtuous toils, returning laden with riches and honors 
for your happy father to share in, may see nothing of that father but the tomb 
that covers his dust ' Yes, Ben. this may soon be the case with us, my child ; 
the dark curtain of our separation may drop, and your cheeks, or mine, be 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 131 

flooded with sorrows. But, thanks be to God, that curtain will rise again and 
open to our view those scenes of happiness, one glance at which is sufficient 
to start the tear of transport into our eyes. Religion assures us of all this ; 
religion assures us that life is but the morning of our existence — that there 
is a glorious eternity beyond, and that to the penitent death is but the passage 
to that happy life where they shall soon meet again, to part no more, but to 
congratulate their mutual felicities forever. Then, O son, lay hold of religion 
and secure an interest in those blessed hopes that contribute so much to the 
virtues and the joys of life." 

It would be hard for any father to give better advice to any son. No son, 
entering upon the activities of business Hfe, could do better than to take the 
advice which Franklin's father gave to him, and which he followed so faith- 
fully. 

'^* V* 'y« 

KILLED BY HIS BROTHER 



WHEN my father moved from our little log house in the country to the town, 
I was sent to the Sunday School and day school. At the first session of 
the Sunday School I attended, they had large white cards with texts in 
green and red letters which awed me. I then went into the service; the 
minister preached on the terrors of the Law, kindling the fires of the pit so graph- 
ically that I was frightened almost to death and " Lifted up my voice and wept." 
I do not think that the fright did me any harm ; but I remember what a sen- 
sation my first appearance produced. One block above our house there lived a 
family by the name of Hunnel. The father waa a carpenter and owned a 
planing mill ; the mother was a devout Christian woman, a member of the 
church which our people were accustomed to attend. There were a number 
of sons. The boys had a dog which they called Beelzebub. He undertook to 
jump the fence one day, and getting stuck between the pickets, he broke his 
neck. The Hunnel boys were among those with whom I played " Vineyard " 
in the streets and " Hum-bum-pull-away " through the stables and alleys, and 
"Shinny on the ice." They were very bright in school, especially in arithmetic. 
We boys grew to be men — Tom Hunnel to become a carpenter, John Hunnel 
a saloon-keeper and influential politician, and I to become the pastor of the 
church whose Sunday School I had joined when four years of age, and of which 
I had been a member from the time I was a boy of twelve. 

One day a messenger came to the parsonage door and said : " John Hunnel 
wants to see you at once. Come quickly." I said, "What is the matter?" 
He replied, "His brother Tom has shot him. The doctor says he cannot get 
well, and he wants you to come and pray for him." I said, "Horrible ! So 
terrible a thing cannot be true." Seizing my hat off the rack, I hurried with 



132 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the messenger, and said to him, "How did it happen?" He answered, "John 
was behind the l)ar himself when Tom came into the saloon, very much under 
the influence of Hquor, and called for a drink. John refused him, saying, 'Tom, 
you have had too much in you already ; I will not let you have any more.' 
Tom became very angry and threatened to break the bottles and clean the 
concern out. John attempted to eject him, and Tom whipped out a pistol and 
shot him in the abdomen." Just as we were entering the door of the wounded 
man's residence, I saw a crowd approaching, with the omnipresent small boy in 
the lead. It was the sheriff bringing Tom to the bedside of his brother to 
receive what might prove to be an ante-mortem statement. Everybody but 
the sheriff, the prisoner and I were shut out, and we entered the bedroom to- 
gether. The sheriff said, "Is this the man that shot you?" "Yes," said the 
suffering man ; then addressing his brother, he said, "Oh, Tom, what a bad job 
you have done! You have sent yourself to the jail-house and me to the 
grave." Tom began to weep and said, "Johnny, I am so sorry. Won't you 
forgive me?" He answered, "Yes, Tommy, I will. I am asking a merciful 
Saviour to forgive me, and I cannot expect him to hear me unless I forgive 
you. Oh, Tommy, it was not you who did it, but the drink in you that made 
you crazy." When the sheriff had taken the prisoner away, I went up to the 
bedside of the wounded man, and, taking him by the hand, said, "Johnny, this 
is too bad." He, calHng me by my first name, said, "Yes, it is too bad. The 
doctor says I cannot get well," and, showing me the little pink wound, he asked 
me if I thought he could recover. I told him I feared he could not. He said, 
"I should like to live for my wife and family, but I suppose that is out of the 
question. I have sent for you because I thought you would help me to 
Christ. I am sorry for my sins, and I want to be forgiven. You know what 
a good mother I had." " Yes," I said, " many a time I have heard her tell of her 
love for Christ in the class-meeting, and pray for you boys, and you by name, 
Johnny, in the prayer-meeting; and I was at the meeting when your brother 
Henry joined the church, and I heard her say, 'O my boy, I am so happy to see 
you take this step !' " The sick man said, "It may be God will hear my mother's 
prayers, though the lips that uttered them are cold; maybe he will hear your 
prayer, and mine, and save me. Let us try." I prayed aloud, and then put 
a little prayer in his mouth, which he said aloud ; and the Holy Spirit seemed 
to help us both to offer the prayer of faith, for light came into his face and 
peace into his heart, as he said: 

' " His blood can make the foulest clean; 
His blood avails for me.' 

"Christ has forgiven all my sins. How thankful and how happy I am!" 
He lingered until the evening of the next day, suffering unspeakable physical 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 133 

agony, but enjoying sweet rest of soul; then he passed away. The family 
asked the privilege of having the funeral service in the church, which request 
was granted. The building, which seated a thousand people, was too small 
for the audience which gathered. In the congregation were leaders of both 
political parties, people of all classes and conditions, including about fifty 
saloon-keepers. In my message I told of our early friendship and of my per- 
sonal sorrow. I reminded the people of the danger of putting off the question 
of the soul's salvation till the dying hour. I spoke of the love of the Saviour, 
of his infinite compassion ; I made mention of the dead man's penitence, of 
his belief in the atonement, of his faith in Christ as his personal Saviour, and 
of the hopes which inspired his soul. I put special emphasis upon the fact 
that whiskey had done it all ; that strong drink is a vice containing nearly 
every other vice ; that it is a crime containing about every other crime ; that 
it spares no man, however promising, nor tie, however sacred, and that its 
especial pleasure is in making funerals and in filling jails. It was one of the 
most solemn services I ever attended ; the Holy Ghost seemed to fill the house. 
During most of the service large numbers, including many of the saloon-keepers, 
wept like children. 

^. ^ v* 

GOD'S CALL TO GREATNESS 



L 



IKE Washington and Lincoln, Grant had the prophetic instinct. Though 
he begged his father not to send him to West Point, and though he stood 
low in his class, being the last of the eighteen sergeants appointed in the 
junior year, and having such poor marks that he had to serve his last year 
without any commission, he had a secret feeling that some day he would lead the 
army of the nation. In his personal memoirs, General Grant says : " During 
my first year's encampment, General Scott visited West Point and reviewed 
the cadets. With his commanding figure, his colossal size and showy uniform, 
I thought him the finest specimen of manhood my eyes had ever beheld, and the 
most to be envied. I could never resemble him in appearance, but I did have 
a presentiment that some day I should occupy his place on review." The 
prophecy was literally fulfilled. It was God's whispering in the ear of this 
timid, modest, and to outward appearances unpromising, young soldier the 
greatness that was in store for him. I heard Bishop Simpson say, that General 
Grant told him during the Civil War that he believed that God had called him 
up to command the armies of the Union. 

God speaks to boys and girls, to young men and women in their early 
ambitions and prophecies, telling them what they may become and what He 
desires of them. It is fortunate for those who hear and do not fail to obey 
that voice. 



134 THE SPEAKING OAK 

BIBLE INSTRUCTION AT HOME 



DANIEL WEBSTER pays tliis beautiful tribute to the Bible as an inspira- 
tion to him intellectually : " From the time that, at my mother's feet, or 
on my father's knee, I first learned to lisp verses from the Sacred Writ- 
ings, they have been my daily study and vigilant contemplation. If there 
he anything in my style or thoughts to be commended, the credit is due to my kind 
parents, in instilling into my mind an early love of the Scriptures." 

The old-fashioned plan of teaching the children the Bible in the home 
was an excellent one. In New England and in other parts of our country 
the parents had the children read and study and conmiit to memory the 
Holy Scriptures. That fact had very much to do with the foundation and 
perpetuity of the civil and religious institutions which we enjoy. 

The Sunday School is the strong right arm of God in saving the world 
at the present time. Most of those who are brought into the church to-day 
come through the instrvmientality of the Sabbath school, and yet the teaching 
of the Bible to the children in the Sunday School must not be made a substi- 
tute for instruction in the Divine Word in the home. In these days of organi- 
zation some parents seem willing to shirk their individual responsibility by 
delegating the Biblical and religious instruction of their children to the Sunday 
School teacher and the pastor. 



LOVE OF HUSBAND FOR WIFE 



COUNT VON MOLTKE and General Grant, though unlike in some partic- 
ulars, were alike in the fact that they were both silent men and both ideal 
in their devotion to their families. The old Count, after his wife's death, 
had a chapel built near his residence, which he entered every day to recall 
the precious memories of his idol and commune with his God. Grant's affection 
for his wife was just as tender and undying. Rev. Dr. Newman was awakened at 
night by one of General Grant's sons with the word, " Father is dying ; come and 
baptize him." The minister knelt at the bedside and offered prayer, at the 
conclusion of which the General said, " I thank you." The minister then men- 
tioned the subject of his baptism, and he replied, " I desire to have the ordi- 
nance administered. I had intended to do so before." The next morning the 
pastor said, " General, the doctor told us last night that you would not live five 
minutes." He smiled, and then drawing his countenance into seriousness, said : 
" I did not intend to die then. I have a little work which I must do before I go 
to my reward." The reason why he did not surrender was, he loved his wife 
so intensely that he would not die till he had provided a support for her. He 
lived three months after — long enough to complete his book, which was to 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 135 

furnish that support. With one of the most imperial wills that ever ruled a 
mortal soul, he took Death himself by the throat with one hand and held him 
at arm's length for three months, suffering- a thousand deaths from the cancer 
in his throat, while with the other hand he finished his memoirs. When the 
last line was written the pen dropped out of his numb fingers and he fell asleep. 
In selecting a place for his burial he expressly provided that room should be 
left by his side for the dust of his devoted wife. And in accordance with this 
provision, two sarcophagi have been provided in the superb mausoleum which 
overlooks the Hudson, the one holding the body of the General, the other 
awaiting the dust of his wife. 

William McKinley's devotion to his wife was one of the most beautiful 
domestic pictures the world has ever seen. 

The love for wife and home which the Count, the General and the President 
manifested, is a beautiful example and inspiration to individual and national 
life. The devotion of husband to wife has been an important factor in the 
greatness of Great Britain, Germany, America and every other dominant 
nation. 



TRUE STEWARDSHIP 

OSEPH ALLEN, of Braddock, Pa., an engineer in the Edgar Thompson 
Steel Works, was on his way to the mill, when he passed a car loaded 
with quicklime. A laborer, unloading the car, not noticing him, threw a 
shovelful of the lime into his face, burning out both of his eyes, and 
making him the first pensioner of the Andrew Carnegie fund of four million 
dollars. On retiring from business, Mr. Andrew Carnegie wrote this letter to the 
people of Pittsburg from New York, dated March 12, 1901 : 

"An opportunity to retire from business came to me unsought, which I 
considered it my duty to accept. My resolve was made in youth to retire before 
old age. From what I have seen around me, I cannot doubt the wisdom of this 
course, although the change is great, even serious, and seldom brings the happi- 
ness expected. But this is because so many, having abundance to retire upon, 
have so little to retire to. The fathers in olden days taught that a man should 
have time before the end of his career for the ' making of his soul.' I have 
always felt that old age should be spent, not as the Scotch say, in ' making 
mickle mair,' but in making a good use of what has been acquired, and I hope 
my friends of Pittsburg will approve of my action in retiring while still in full 
health and vigor, and I can reasonably expect many years for usefulness in 
fields which have other than personal aims. 

" The pain of change and separation from business associations and 
employees is indeed keen — associates who are at once the best of friends, 




136 THE SPEAKING OAK 

employees who are not only the best of workmen, but the most self-respecting 
body of men which the world has to show. Of this I am well assured and very 
proud. 

" I should have more time now to devote to the Institute and to the 
technical school, which are in the higher domain of Pittsburg's life, and these 
I have long seen to be my chief work — the field in which I can do the greatest, 
because the highest, good for Pittsburg. The share which I have had in the 
material development of our city may be considered only the foundation on 
which the things of the spirit are built, and in taking the proceeds of the 
material to develop the things of the spiritual world I feel that I am pursuing 
the ideal path of life and duty." 

A letter of the same date was sent to the president and managers of 
the Carnegie Company, setting apart a fund of five million dollars — one 
million for maintaining the libraries built by Carnegie in Braddock, Homestead 
and Duquesne, and the other four millions to be employed in aiding the poor 
and disabled workmen of his mills and the needy families of those who met death 
in their employment. In his letter he says : 

"The income of the other four million is to be applied: 

" First, to provide for employees of the Carnegie Company in all its works, 
mines, railways, shops, etc., injured in its service, and for those dependent 
upon such employees that are killed. 

" Second, to provide small pensions or aids to such employees as, after long 
and creditable service, through exceptional circumstances, need use of it. 

" This fund is not intended to be used as a substitute for what the company 
has been in the habit of doing in such cases. Far from it. It is intended 
to go still further, and give to the injured or their families, or to employees who 
are needy in old age, through no fault of their own, some provision against 
want as long as needed, or until young children can become self-supporting. 

" I make this first use of surplus wealth upon retiring from business, as 
an acknowledgment of the deep debt which I owe to the workmen who have 
contributed so greatly to my success. I hope the cordial relations which 
exist between employers and employed throughout all the Carnegie Company's 
works may never be disturbed, both employers and employed remembering 
what I said in my last speech to the men at Homestead : ' Labor, capital and 
business ability are the three legs of a three-legged stool ; neither is first, neither 
is second, neither is third ; there is no precedence, all being equally necessary. 
He who would sow discord among the three is an enemy of all." 

The great steel king has set a beautiful example to the rich men of this 
country in his estimate of the relation of capital to labor and in his recognition 
of the debt which wealth owes to poverty. However industrious and cheerful 
he may have been in the accumulation of his vast fortune, he was never half 
so happy as he seems to be in giving his money away. 



o 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 137 

McKINLEY ON WASHINGTON'S RELIGION 

N the 22(1 of February, 1898, at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, 
President McKinley made an address to the students of the University of 
Pennsylvania, which contains the following beautiful and appropriate 
reference to Washington's faith in Divine Providence in the establish- 
ment of the nation : 

" And how reverent always was this great man ; how prompt and generous 
his recognition of the guiding hand of Divine Providence in establishing and 
controlling the destinies of the colonies and the republic ! Again and again — 
in his talks, in his letters, in his state papers and formal addresses — he reveals this 
side of his character, the force of which we still feel and, I trust, we always will. 

"At the very height of his success and reward, as he emerged from the 
Revolution, receiving by unanimous acclaim the plaudits of the people and 
commanding the respect and admiration of the civilized world, he did not 
forget that his first official act as President should be fervent supplication 
to the Almighty Being who rules the universe. It is he who presides in the 
councils of nations and whose providential aid can supply every human defect ; 
it is his benediction which we most want, and which can and will consecrate 
the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States. With his help 
the instruments of the citizens employed to carry out their purposes will succeed 
in the functions allotted to public life. 

" But Washington on this occasion went further and spoke for the people, 
assuming that he but voiced the sentiment of the young nation in thus making 
faith in Almighty God and reliance upon his favor and care one of the strong 
foundations of the Government then inaugurated. And, proceeding, Wash- 
ington states the reasons for his belief in language so exalted that it should be 
graven deep upon the mind of every patriot: 

" ' No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand 
which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States, 
Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent 
nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; 
and in the important revolution just accomplished, in the system of their united 
government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many dis- 
tinct communities, from which the events resulted, cannot be compared with 
the means by which most governments have been established, without some 
return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future 
blessings which the past seems to presage. These reflections, arising out of 
the present crisis^ have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be 
suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none 
under the Influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government 
can more auspiciously commence.' 



138 THE SPEAKING OAK 

" The Senate of the United States made fitting response to its appreciation 
of this portion of the President's inaugural address, when its members de- 
clared that ' a review of the many signal instances of Divine intervention in 
favor of this country claims our most pious gratitude,' and that they were 
* unavoidably led to acknowledge and adore the Great Arbiter of the universe, 
by whom empires rise and fall.' Congress added its sanction by providing that 
'After the oath shall have been administered to the President he, attended by 
the Vice-President and the members of the Senate and the House of Representa- 
tives, proceed to St. Paul's Chapel to hear divine service to be performed by the 
Chaplain of Congress, already appointed.' 

" Not alone upon days of thanksgiving or in times of trial should we, as a 
people, remember and follow the example thus set by the fathers, but never 
in our future as a nation should we forget the great moral and religious princi- 
ples which they enunciated and defended as their most precious heritage. In 
an age of great activity, of industrial and commercial strife and perplexing prob- 
lems we should never abandon the simple faith in Almighty God as recognized 
in the name of the American people by Washington and the first Congress." 

It was a fortunate thing for the young Republic that its first Chief Executive 
was a man of such simple, sincere faith in God and devotion to his cause ; for 
he was not only the exponent of the religious sentiment of his time, but was 
also a model for those who should come after him. 

Nearly all of his successors in the Presidential office have been men of 
faith and prayer. It is a beautiful thing to see President McKinley holding up 
for admiration and imitation the religious views of Washington and unhesi- 
tatingly indorsing them; and the picture is more encouraging from the fact that 
in so doing he expresses the Christian faith of the American people in God's 
special providence over the nation from the beginning until now. 



BOXERS 



THE continued confiscation of Chinese territory by foreign nations, and the 
singular friendliness of the Emperor of China to Western ideas and insti- 
tutions, produced a reaction which expressed itself in an increased bitter- 
ness toward foreigners and in the uprising of the Boxer movement. The 
Boxers claimed superhuman wisdom and power. Prince Tuan and the Empress 
Dowager, having witnessed some of their athletic and religious performances, 
yielded to their claims of supernatural energy, and believed what they said — 
that the gods would protect and fight for them and that they would drive the 
barbarians into the sea. The Empress Dowager, in taking the long sword and 
the torch in one hand, came near letting the sceptre slip out of the other. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 139 

The Boxers appealed to the selfishness as well as to the relig'ious instinct 
of the Chinese people. They recruited the lumbermen and boatmen who had 
lost employment through steamboat navigation, the cartmen who were sup- 
planted by the railroads, and the artisans who were thrown out of employment 
by improved machinery. They made the farmers believe that the presence of 
the foreigners caused the drouth and famine, and that their death alone would 
bring rain and harvests. Circulars like the following were scattered over the 
troubled districts: 

" Sacre:d Edict Issued by the Lord of Wealth and Happiness. 

" The Catholic and Protestant religions being insolent to the gods and 
destructive of holy things, rendering no obedience to Buddhism and enraging 
both Heaven and Earth, the rain clouds no longer visit us, but eight million 
Spirit Soldiers will descend irom, heaven and sweep the empire clean of all 
foreigners. Then will the gentle showers once more water our lands ; and, 
when the tread of soldiers and the clash of steel are heard, threatening woes to 
our people, then the Buddha's Patriotic League of Boxers will protect the 
empire and bring peace to all. Haste, then, to spread this doctrine far and wide ; 
for if you gain one adherent to the faith your own person wiil be absolved from 
all future misfortunes. If you gain five converts your whole family will be 
absolved from all evils ; if you gain ten adherents to the faith your whole village 
will be absolved from all calamities. Those who gain no adherents shall be 
decapitated ; for, until all foreigners have been exterminated, the rain can never 
visit us." 

That such fanatics and murderers should so swiftly capture the throne and 
rudely shock the unsteady empire was a surprise to the civilized world, and 
to none more than the members of the legations of the allied Powers. The 
eight million Spirit Soldiers were, however, on the other side. It was Elijah's 
God, and not Baal, who sent the rain. 



KEEN EYES 



AMONG the heroes that manned the fifty-oared ship "Argo" there was Lyn- 
ceus, whose eyes were so keen that they saw things at a great distance and 
through opaque objects. It is said that he could look down to the bottom 
of the sea, noticing the fishes and pearls, and that he could see down into 
the earth, discovering the silver and gold. After the ship had gotten fifty miles 
out to sea, he glanced back, and recognized the figure of Pelias, looking 
angrily upon the water. On a certain island, while the king was giving the 
heroes a banquet, he spoke of giants that threatened his realm, and pointed to 



140 THE SPEAKING OAK 

a mountain near by as the place where they dwelt. The leader of the Greeks 
looked toward the mountain and told the king- that he saw things that looked 
like giants, but that they were so dim that he thought they must have been only 
the forms that the clouds had made. The sharp-eyed member of the company, 
being called, said the mountain was full of huge g-iants, each having- six arms 
and thoroughly equipped for war. The king, astonished at his superhuman 
vision, told him that he had seen correctly. 

Men can see farther than with their eyes of clay ; people see farther down 
into the sea to-day than Lynceus ever did, making an accurate map of its 
bottom — of its mountains, valleys and plains — as though it were dry land. They 
can see through a huge cable on the bottom, two miles beneath the surface 
of the water. They see farther down into the earth than the sharp-eyed hero 
did, and can tell better than he where the iron, silver and gold are. They can 
see through bright worlds in the heavens ; and then, looking through little eyes 
they have made out of sand, they discover myriads of other worlds beyond, 
and they distinguish the unseen force that binds them together. They see 
the rainbow in the ray of sunlig-ht, the harvests mirrored in the drop of water, 
and light and heat and power and language in the subtle current. They see 
through the trunk of a tree, the heart of a flower or the body of a man, and 
we call them scientists. There are those who see a world of inexpressible 
beauty beyond the forms and forces of nature, and we call them artists. 
There are those who see the relation between these facts discovered in the 
realm of nature, and we call them philosophers. 

Men can see better still — farther down than the deepest ocean, farther up 
than the highest star. They can see the Being underneath and behind all forms 
and forces of matter and mind. They can see Him as a person, as their 
Father, as their Saviour ; can recognize their obligation to their fellows, grow- 
ing out of their love for Him. They can see Eternity, and the Beautiful City, 
and the magnificent mansion, and the faces of those whom they love. Those 
who see these things we call Christians. Lynceus had sharp eyes, but they 
were not so keen as the eyes of the pure-hearted, who see God. 



COMPLAINTS AT GOD'S PROVIDENCE 



THE bridge across the Hellespont had scarcely been completed before a terri- 
ble storm destroyed it. Xerxes was so enraged that he ordered three 
hundred lashes to be inflicted on, and a pair of fetters to be thrown into, 
the sea. It is said that he sent executioners to brand the Hellespont with 
ignominy, and addressed to it this message: " Thou ungracious water, thy master 
condemns thee to this punishment for having injured him without provocation. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 141 

Xerxes, the king, will pass over thee, whether thou consentest or not. Just 
is it that no man honors thee with sacrifice, for thou art insidious and of an 
ungrateful flavor." Having punished the sea, he then commanded those who 
had charge of the construction of the bridge to be beheaded. The sea suffered 
the injury for a time, and then, when it seemed most calm and peaceful, it 
arose in its fury, avenged itself on Xerxes by destroying four hundred of 
his ships, vast numbers of his choicest soldiers, and stores of richest treasure. 
The winds and waves and poison of the atmosphere and Grecian soldiers com- 
pleted the humiliation and ignominious overthrow of this haughty, impious Persian 
monarch. 

More silly and wicked than Xerxes are those persons who complain of 
God's dealings with them, and openly express their anger at the Divine Provi- 
dence. They say, " What did God take my husband for ? Why did he take 
my wife? I shall never feel kindly toward him again for having removed 
my boy or girl." We have even heard people say that they were angry at God 
and would never forgive him for having taken away a loved one. In insolence 
and in blasphemy their hearts lash the Almighty for his dealings with them. 
Our God is gfood and he doeth all things well. 



ORE TO BE GOTTEN BY DIGGING 

A SHEPHERD was watching his flocks in a desolate district in the south- 
western part of New South Wales, called Broken Hill. He noticed some 
stones at his feet that were full of shining specks. He had an idea there 
was gold there. He took a spade and pick and dug for days, for months. 
Plis health began to fail, but he continued his work, getting only red earth as a 
reward. One day he stuck his pick into a rock so tightly he had to have a 
neighbor help him to get it out. That rock had rich silver in it, and led to the 
discovery of the fabulously rich deposit known as the Broken Hill mine. 



A reporter visited James Whitcomb Riley and said to him : " Would 
you mind saying something about the obstacles over which you climbed to 
success as a poet?" "I am afraid it would not be a very pleasant story," 
he said. " A friend came to me once completely heartbroken, saying that his 
manuscripts were constantly returned and that he was the most miserable 
wretch alive. I asked him how long he had been trying? 'Three years,' he 
said. ' My dear man,' I answered, laughingly, ' go on. Keep on trying till you 
have spent as many years at it as I did. I struggled through years, through 
sleepless nights, through almost hopeless days. For twenty years I tried to 
get into one magazine ; back came my manuscripts, eternally. I kept on. In 



142 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the twentieth year that magazine accepted one of my articles.' Tell your readers 
that our youngs Americans have right at their hand the richest material any 
country ever offered. Tell them to be brave, to work in earnest, to dig, dig, dig. 
Look what Bret Harte got out of California! Gold? Yes, of a finer assay 
than miner ever dreamed of. Dig, dig! Fabulous wealth waits but to be 
uncovered." 

In getting- gold for the body, truth for the mind, or love for the soul, men 
must dig, dig, dig. In the enrichment of individual character and of the 
Kingdom of God, people must dig, dig, dig. 

^* v» v» 

A MISSIONARY AMONG THE CANNIBALS 



A 



LL of the Presbyterian churches of Newburg, N. Y., united in a service in 
the Calvary Church to listen to a missionary address by the venerable 
John G. Paton, of the New Hebrides. The Scotchman, seventy-six years 
old, arose to speak. His long hair and whiskers were white as the driven 
snow, the deeply bronzed face emphasizing their whiteness. A feeling of profound 
reverence for the man was expressed in the faces of the large audience as he began : 
" I have been laboring in the New Hebrides for forty-two years, and my presence 
here to-night is an evidence that my interest in that field is unabated. The first 
two missionaries that went to those islands were killed, cooked, and eaten by the 
savages. A settlement of teachers was made in the middle of the island group, 
and though they were at first kindly received by the inhabitants, they were after- 
wards slain — men, women and children — and their bodies devoured by the 
cannibals. That island now, thank God, is a Christian island. The people wear 
clothing, practice the useful arts, ask a blessing at the table, have family prayers, 
attend church service, live correctly and affectionately with one another and 
enjoy the blessings of a Christian civilization. No part of the world, perhaps, 
has presented greater obstacles to the introduction of the Gospel than the New 
Hebrides. The workers had died and been killed off, till at one time I was the 
only one left in the whole group of islands. To-day they are greatly en- 
couraged. We have seen three thousand of these man-eaters converted to God. 
One of the missionaries translated a portion of the Scriptures, and the people 
were so much pleased with it that they clamored for the whole book. The 
missionaries had no money for the purpose, and the natives instituted a fund, 
to which they contributed for thirteen years, which grew to be six thousand 
dollars, with which they published a translation of the whole Piible. Portions 
of the Sacred Scriptures are printed in twenty-two different languages of the 
islands. My two sons and one daughter are in this mission field. My son 
Frank, a man of culture and education, left a professorship in a college to go 




THE FIRST TWO MISSIONARIES WERE KILLED 



(143) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 145 

to that dangerous field, and if he and I had not been miraculously defended we 
would, ere this, have furnished food for the cannibals. He and several teachers 
were left among four thousand cannibals. The chief would have nothing to do 
with them till, one day, he came to my son and implored his aid in rescuing the 
three daughters of his brother, who had been taken on board a French trader 
to be sold into slavery. My son, by petition and threat, rescued them, and the 
gratitude of the chief knew no bounds. He became a convert, and was a power- 
ful agent in spreading the work among the natives. Only recently a savage 
pointed a rifle at my son and put his front finger on the trigger to shoot, when 
the chief implored the man not to fire, and seeing that the man would not be 
checked, he rushed in between my boy and the gun and took the ball through 
his own body and fell to the ground. My son and another missionary went to 
the chief and found him weak from loss of blood, and expecting to be taken by 
the savages and devoured at one of their feasts. When the missionary saw his 
condition he began to weep over him. The chief said, ' Missionary, don't weep 
over me ; I am happy.' ' But you are suffering,' said the missionary. The 
chief said, ' I am suffering pain, missionary, but I am suffering no pain com- 
pared with what our dear Lord Jesus suffered for me when he died on Calvary.' 
And the Saviour whom he loved soon after took him to his bosom. The fire- 
arms and rum of civilized nations, including your own, make our work much 
harder — in fact, give us now most of the trouble we have. Great Britain has 
prohibited her traders from selling gunpowder or drink, and I have just been 
to Washington to see President McKinley and Secretary Hay, to see if the 
United States will not take a similar stand against the sale of firearms and rum." 

The audience was stirred to the depths by the earnest recital of the strug- 
gles and tragedies of the work in the New Hebrides, and a collection was taken 
in its behalf. 

There are no people on earth so savage that they cannot be tamed by the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are no circumstances, however unfriendly, which 
can eventually defeat those workers who are determined to carry the Gospel to 
the lost. The martyr spirit is in the world, in the missionaries who die for the 
savages, and in the native converts who die for their Lord. 

V v* ^« 

GENERAL LEE'S LETTER TO HIS SON 



ENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, whose grandmother declined the hand of 
George Washington, married the granddaughter of Washington's wife, 
and thereby inherited the estate of Arlington and the White House. He 
named his eldest son George Washington Custis Lee, and to this young 



son he wrote a beautiful letter, which is as follows: 



146 THE SPEAKING OAK 

" You must study to be frank with the world ; frankness is the child of 
honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and 
take it for granted you mean to do right. If a friend asks a favor, you should 
grant it if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot; you will 
wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind ; never do a wrong 
thing to make a friend or keep one ; the man who requires you to do so is dearly 
purchased at a sacrifice. Deal kindly but firmly with all your classmates ; you 
will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to others 
v/hat you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one, tell him, not 
others, of what you complain ; there is no more dangerous experiment than 
that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his 
back. We should live, act and say nothing to the injury of any one. It is not 
only best as a matter of principle, but it is the path to peace and honor. 

" In regard to duty, let me in conclusion of this hasty letter, inform you 
that, nearly a hundred years ago, there was a day of remarkable gloom and 
darkness — still known as the dark day — a day when the light of the sun was 
slowly extinguished, as if by an eclipse. The Legislature of Connecticut was 
in session, and as its members saw the unexpected and unaccountable darkness 
coming on, they shared in the general awe and terror. It was supposed by 
many that the last day — the day of judgment — had come. Some one, in the 
consternation of the hour, moved an adjournment. Then there arose an old 
Puritan legislator — Davenport, of Stamford — who said that, if the last day had 
come, he desired to be found at his place doing his duty, and therefore moved 
that candles be brought in, so that the House could proceed with its duty. 
There was quietness in that man's mind — the quietness of heavenly wisdom 
and inflexible willingness to obey present duty. Duty, then, is the sublimest 
word in our language. Do your duty in all things, like the old Puritan. You 
cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. Never let me and your 
mother wear one gray hair for any lack of duty on your part." 

This letter of Lee to his son away at school contains principles which 
were illustrated in his own character. He always said what he meant and 
meant what he said ; no one, either friend or foe, ever detected the least hint 
of equivocation in him, nor could he bear any want of frankness in others. 
Like almost all really great men, he was charitable in his feelings toward others. 
[t is said that during the long war in which he took so active a part, he was 
never heard to say an unkind word about the Northern people, or the officers 
or soldiers of the Union army. There is an alarming amount of insincerity in 
ordinary social and business life ; the woman sends word, by the servant, to 
the caller that she is not at home, or on receiving her says, " I am so glad to see 
you," when she hates the very ground on which she walks. The man meets 
his neighbor on the street and says, " I was not able to be at your house last 
night ; I was sick," when he was not sick at all, except in his moral sense. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 147 

The reason why he did not go was because he did not desire to go. A dozen 
reasons will be given for not attending the means of grace or becoming a 
Christian, while the real reason, " I did not want to," will be suppressed. The 
man behind the counter who says he paid twenty-five cents for a piece of goods, 
when he only paid twenty-two cents, and the man in front of it who says he 
was offered the same piece of goods for twenty, both tell a falsehood, which 
ought to choke any one who has the least regard for the Ten Commandments. 
And yet they are types of men found everywhere — in the stores, shops, offices 
and court-houses — who, with politeness of demeanor and no blush on the cheek, 
prevaricate from morning until night, from one year's end to another. It 
would take a very large blackboard and a vast amount of chalk to record all 
the white lies of a single day. There is so much time and energy wasted in 
unjust criticism and slander of others. These harsh estimates are usually given 
behind the back, for, if they were given to the face there would be fewer friends 
and more funerals. Lee's advice to his boy — to feel kindly toward his fellows, 
and if necessary to say an unpleasant thing, to say it to them and not to others, 
to the face, and not behind the back — is sound to the core. The advice in the 
letter, from beginning to end, is not only valuable for a young man student, 
but for every one. 

^. ^. ^. 

ROYAL SYMPATHY 



A POOR man named Rattray and his wife lived in a cottage at Cairn-nu- 
Craig, Scotland, not far from Balmoral Castle. The wife's mother was 
dying, a little distance away, and the daughter went to her bedside. She 
kept her oldest boy, Jamie, home from school to watch his little brother 
while the mother was away. The oldest was eleven years of age, the youngest was 
three. Fishing was good at the bridge over the Monaltrie Burn near where 
it empties into the Dee, and the boys took their lines for a day's sport. The 
little fellow fell in, and his brother, with the heroism worthy of a king, jumped 
in after him, but, locked in each other's arms, they were swept out into the Dee, 
swollen with late rains, and were drowned. The sad news reached the castle 
at four o'clock in the afternoon. Before five. Queen Victoria w^s in her 
carriage hastening to the scene of the accident. She was trembling with ex- 
citement and sorrow. She drove along the river's edge, taking the deepest 
interest in the search for the bodies ; then she left her carriage and walked up 
and down the banks of the stream, showing in her face and conduct the deepest 
personal anguish. The drowning was on Tuesday. The baby brother was 
found first. On Thursday the Queen rode over to the afflicted cottage, and 
thus writes of her visit: 

" We went in, and on a table in the kitchen, covered with a sheet which 



148 THE SPEAKING OAK 

they lifted up, lay the poor, sweet, innocent ' bairnie,' a fine, plump child, with 
his little hands joined — a most touching sight. Then the poor mother came 
in, calm and quiet, though she cried a little at first when I took her hand and 
said how much I felt for her and how dreadful it was. She checked herself 
and said, with that resignation and trust which is so edifying to witness and 
which you see so constantly in these Highlands, ' We must try to bear it ; we 
must trust to the Almighty.' As we were leaving I gave her something, and 
she was quite overcome and blessed me for it." 

The Queen left this house of sorrow and joined in the search for the body of 
the older brother, and continued it till one o'clock in the afternoon, when she 
returned to the palace. Word came to her that night that the body had been found. 
On Saturday, the day of the funeral, she drove her carriage to a convenient place 
in the road, stopped the horses, and affectionately reviewed the funeral pro- 
cession as it passed, with the two little white coffins, to the burying ground. 

The sorrow of this womanly woman over the death of these poor little 
boys was the expression of that real royalty of soul before which England 
and the civilized world bowed. The King of kings has a heart full of sympathy 
for the sorrowing children of men, for the lowliest of earth. The comfort 
the Queen gave to the poor family by the tenderness of her spirit is a type 
of the infinite consolation the Holy Spirit brings to broken human hearts. 



RECEIVED THE VICTORIA CROSS 



HE man that can write V. C. after his name is regarded with especial affec- 
tion and honor in England. It means that he has received the decoration 
of the Victoria Cross, which is bestowed not through influence, nor fam- 
ily, nor royal favor, but from merit. The decoration is a Maltese cross of 
bronze, with a crown surmounted by a lion in the centre and a scroll at the bottom 
with the motto, " For Valor." It is bestowed upon any soldier or sailor of the 
British government who shall display signal bravery in the presence of the 
enemy. There is but one black man in the world who wears this cross — Mr. 
Gordon, a"* negro of the West Indies. In one of the campaigns of West Africa, 
as the British troops were going through a thicket, Gordon saw the end of a 
gun sticking out of a bush, aimed directly at his commanding ofificer. In an 
instant he threw his arms about the officer and swung him around and his 
own body into range, receiving in his own lungs the bullet that was intended 
for his commander. It was thought that the shot had certainly killed him, but 
after a long struggle he recovered. In the procession at the Queen's Diamond 
Jubilee, few received more notice or favor than Gordon, who wore the coveted 
Victoria Cross, which had been awarded to him for his signal act of heroism. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 149 

The cross from earliest times was regarded as the badge of the deepest 
crime and severest penalty till the Innocent One hung upon it, and He trans- 
formed it into the symbol of everything that is beautiful and glorious. It 
crowns the spires that pierce the sky, it adorns the walls of palaces and parlia- 
ments, and it hangs from the breasts of kings and conquerors and heroes. 
The Victoria Cross, which was originated at the time of the Crimean war, was 
appropriately fashioned and fittingly named, suggesting the cross on which the 
Saviour died that we might live, and also the cross on which every follower 
of his should hang in complete consecration to God and in self-sacrificing 
devotion to the interests of others. 



LINCOLN'S KINDNESS TO A YOUNG PHYSICIAN 



AS I was riding along a beautiful prairie road in central Illinois with Dr. 
Worrall, behind his Kentucky thoroughbred, I said, " Doctor, did you 
ever meet Mr. Lincoln ? " " Yes," he replied, " we were friends, I once 
took him to a festival in the church of which you are the pastor. He was 
timid, very bashful in society, but was exceedingly able and witty and popular. At 
that festival the men gathered about him and enjoyed and heartily laughed at the 
bright things that he said. We young men who knew him best called him 
* Link.' I will tell you how I first happened to get acquainted with him. I 
came to this country from Kentucky, a young man, and began the practice 
of medicine. Soon after I opened an office, a woman who had broken her arm 
at the elbow called upon me to set it. The break was a very bad one, and I 
could not make a good job. A rival physician prompted her to sue me for 
malpractice, and I was threatened with professional extinction at the start of 
my career. I wrote to Lincoln at Springfield and asked him to undertake my 
case. He wrote back for me to go to the ofifice of Leonard Swett, in my own 
town, and give him the facts, and that on the day of the trial he would come over 
and examine witnesses and make a speech. I went to Swett's office, and in 
the back room on a ratty lounge I saw the young man, dead drunk, asleep. 
I wrote to Lincoln that I would not leave my case in the hands of such a man. 
He wrote back to do as he told me to — leave the facts with Swett — and I did so. 
That young man was the late Leonard Swett, of Chicago. He reformed and 
became one of the leading lawyers of the country. The day of the trial came. 
Lincoln examined and cross-examined the witnesses with great skill, and made 
such a masterly speech that a verdict was rendered in my favor, and I was 
saved from financial and professional ruin at the very start in life. When I 
asked for my bill, he said : ' You are a young man just starting out upon your 
career. I have easily earned a hundred dollars. I am only going to charge 



I50 THE SPEAKING OAK 

you twenty-five, and I will donate the other seventy-five to a worthy young man 
who has been the subject of envy and malice.' I paid him his fee and said 
to him, "When are you going home?' 'To-night,' he replied. 'No,' said I; 
' you must stay till to-morrow.' I sent out fifty invitations, and had my 
friends and neighbors come and meet the kind man who had done so much 
for me. This act of personal kindness to me made for him hundreds of friends 
and thousands of dollars in McLean County." 

When my companion had finished his story, I said, " Doctor, there is no 
wonder that Democrats like you, as well as Republicans, vie with each other in 
their appreciation of Lincoln's tenderness of heart and generosity of life." 



EARTHLY IMMORTALITY 



A TRAVELER stood one day by the supposed resting place of John Calvin. 
Only a small stone marks the spot. As the visitor meditated upon the un- 
certainty of the tradition which designates this as the great man's tomb, 
he turned to the guide and said, " Well, John Calvin is dead ; that is cer- 
tain." " Dead ? " responded the guide. " Yes, dead here ; but, my dear friend, he 
lives everywhere ! " It is immeasurably truer of Jesus. They crucified the Lord 
of Glory, but he lives everywhere. By the manifestation of his grace in human 
hearts, by his spiritual dominion over the civilization of the age, Jesus is every- 
where. It is the perpetual miracle of history. 



EARNED FREEDOM THROUGH BRAVERY 



THE Governor of Virginia, with a number of members of the State Peniten- 
tiary Board, paid a visit recently to the farm where the convicts are kept 
at work. The arrival of the distinguished visitors caused some excite- 
ment, in the midst of which four of the convicts seized rifles and made a 
dash for liberty. Their escape was not noticed at first, except by another convict, 
who volunteered to an officer to recapture the leader, a notorious and desperate 
offender. Permission was given, and immediately the chase began. Gradually 
the fugitives became aware that they were being overtaken, and they turned 
and pointed their rifles at their pursuer, warning him by shouts that they 
would kill him, rather than be caught. Heedless of threats and shots, the 
pursuing convict held on his way until he had the leader in his hands and 
disarmed him. The delay of the struggle was fatal to the remainder of the 
party. The guards, who had followed in the chase, came up and overcame the 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 151 

other three convicts and brought them back. The Governor was so much 
pleased by the courage and promptitude of the convict who had captured the 
leader that, then and there, he remitted the remainer of his sentence, covering 
two years, and he returned a pardoned man to Richmond the same day. 

There is no man, however good, in whose nature there is not some weak 
place, which can be discovered easily by looking for it ; there is no man, how- 
ever bad, who has not some good trait in his nature, which can be discovered 
by searching for it. Here is a man suffering the penalty of a broken law, 
shut off from society like a moral leper, branded with disgrace, who has the 
sense of right in his nature strong enough still to make him realize that his 
fellow-convicts were doing wrong in attempting to escape, and to prompt him 
to help the officers maintain their authority. And the courage which was 
displayed by this convict was worthy of the leader of an army. He could have 
run away with his companions, like any coward would have done, but he stood 
His ground like a man and faced death to maintain the majesty of the law. 

While the soul is set free from the bonds of sin and death by the pardon of 
the Divine Governor through the grace of Jesus Christ, there is the largest 
liberty in obedience to God's law and in a fearless maintenance of it. 



A SISTER'S LOVE 



WHEN CEdipus died he left the kingdom of Thebes to his two sons, Eteocles 
and Polynices, with the understanding that they should rule year by year, 
alternately. At the end of the first year, Eteocles, instead of surrendering 
the throne to his brother, retained it, and a terrible battle was the result, 
in which battle each was slain by the hand o£ the other. Creon, the uncle of the 
boys, took the throne and began his obstinate and brutal rule by denying the right 
of burial to the brother who had been defrauded of his throne. Death was to be 
the penalty to be visited upon the one who should undertake to bury the corpse. 
Antigone, the sister of the two brothers, was indignant and heartbroken at the 
king's command, and determined, at whatever cost, to bury her brother. His 
body had been left outside the city wall to be devoured by the vultures. She 
secretly made her way to it, put a garland of leaves on his forehead and sprinkled 
soft dirt over the body. The king's guard, who had been threatened with death 
if he should allow the burial to take place, exhumed the body and set himself 
to watch for the one who had done the deed. In a calm after a terrible storm, 
the sister crept to the grave, and, finding her brother uncovered, cried like a 
bird whose nest had been despoiled. The guard arrested her and took her before 
the king, who rebuked her savagely, but whom she answered with queenly 
heroism, charging him with injustice and impiety, and telling him that she 



152 THE SPEAKING OAK 

would gladly die rather than give up her love for her brother. She was sent 
away to a cave to perish by starvation, and she slew herself. Her betrothed, 
the king's son, insane with grief, destroyed himself, and the queen, overwhelmed 
with sorrow at the loss of her son, took her own life ; and the unjust, obstinate 
king suffered worse than death in the torments of remorse. 

Against the dark background of the brother's hate Sophocles has placed 
the bright and beautiful picture of a sister's love : 

" Death is welcome ; 
I'll do the pious deed, and lay me down 
By my dear brother ; loving and beloved, 
We'll rest together." 

There are few more beautiful pictures in home life than the delicate love 
of a sister for a brother, and it often seems more intense when bestowed upon 
an unworthy object, and more divine when it prompts personal sacrifice in 
his behalf. In contrast with the brutal impiety of the king, the dramatist 
places the spiritual instinct of the sister who, though heathen, comes very 
near to the boundary line of Christianity, as, referring to the life beyond the 
grave, she says : 

" There I shall dwell forever." 

True meaning is added to a sister's love in the thought that the affection 
is not only during the earthly pilgrimage, but is to bind kindred spirits forever. 



THE MIRROR IN THE WINDOW 

Y^ lEING so fond of nature, Henry Ward Beecher's farm at Peekskill was a 
X3 I paradise to him. Friends tell me they often saw him with a linen duster 
and an old straw hat, in a buggy much the worse for wear, drawn by an 
ordinary horse, happy as a king, on his way out to his farm, which, during 
several months of the year, was his earthly heaven. The fields, the wild flowers, 
the bees, the brood, the birds, the pets in the house or barnyard or pasture, the 
woods, the hills, the winding streams, the tender associations, filled his soul 
so full that they poured out into his sermons and addresses. A gentleman told 
me that, in company with others, he was entertained at Mr. Beecher's new house 
at Peekskill just as it was ready for his occupancy. In the morning Mr. 
Beecher came to the room occupied by my friend and another gentleman, and 
with a hearty greeting said : " Well, boys, have you seen all there is in this 
room?" They answered him that they had, when he opened and turned the 
inside shutter so as to show an inserted mirror, catching an area of the Hudson 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 153 

Rii^er and the hills beyond. His own soul was one great mirror, reflecting the 
beauties and the glories of nature. He saw in the river and mountain, as in 
a mirror, the scenes of infinite beauty. 

The Bible and the Cross ought to be in the windows of every home, bring- 
ing to human vision the unseen beauty and glories of God. Every breast 
ought to be a mirror reflecting the invisible truth of the Divine Mind, and 
bringing into view the River of Life and the Hills of Immortality. 



LOWERING THE FLAG TO GET IN A SALOON 



T the close of a patriotic parade one evening I saw two young men in the 
street of a city, one bearing a large banner with mottoes on it and the 



other carrying a beautiful silk flag. They halted in front of a saloon and 
vmdertook to enter it, but had considerable difficulty in doing so. The 
banner was so large that it could hardly be gotten in the door, and the long flagpole 
had to be tilted horizontally and the folds of the flag gathered in the hand to 
make the entrance possible. And v/ith feelings of regret, not unmingled with 
indignation, I saw the American flag literally hauled down in the presence of a 
saloon. It would have been bad enough for the young men, if they had 
desired a drink, to have taken their emblems to their hall and returned to the 
bar, but to stain the stars and stripes with the slime of a filthy saloon, and to 
take such trouble to do so, was infinitely worse. It filled my soul with con- 
tempt to see that emblem, that had never surrendered to any earthly power, 
trailed in the dust in the presence of rum. Even the door through which they 
entered had a flag fastened above it. On patriotic occasions there is the sub- 
lime mockery of saloon decorations — flags, flags, nothing but American flags 
everywhere, on the outside and inside of the building. 

There is no such enemy to the flag as the saloon, and if there were enough 
of them the stars and stripes would be an impossibility. The Old World idea 
of government was that God gave the authority to the kings and queens and 
emperors, and that they granted what rights they pleased to their subjects. 
Our American idea of government is that God gives the authority to the people 
themselves. But this individual sovereignty can only be maintained on two 
conditions — those of education and virtue. Where there is universal ignorance 
there is an absolute despotism every time ; where the few are educated, there 
is aristocracy; where the greater number are enlightened, there will be parlia- 
ments with increasing power ; and where the education becomes general among 
the common people, there will be a republican form of government. Our 
fathers understood the philosophy of free institutions, and at the very begin- 
ning of their colonial life instituted the common school system, which is the 



154 THE SPEAKING OAK 

pride and hope of the RepubHc ; and the people of to-day recognize that same 
philosophy by the manner in which they foster the public school system, and 
by the princely generosity with which they endow and maintain the higher 
institutions of learning. Is there anything in a saloon which suggests the 
education which is so necessary to the perpetuity of free government? There 
is everything to suggest besotted ignorance and wretched poverty. 

The other condition of a republican form of government is virtue. No 
man can be said to govern himself, in whom the moral and spiritual faculties do 
not dominate the baser ones ; and no nation is able to govern itself where animal- 
ism, vice and crime predominate ; where there is general wickedness enough 
amongst a people there must be absolute despotism to govern them ; since the 
world began it has always been so and will continue to be so. The vile slums 
of great cities, of necessity, have brutal bosses ; if one is removed, another 
quickly takes his place, in answer to the law that vicious elements must be 
ruled with a rod of iron. There is nothing in all the land which develops animal- 
ism, breeds vice, fosters crime, as the saloon does ; nothing which so encourages 
that lawlessness which requires an absolute despotism. These vile drinking 
places not only destroy individual character, but they do all in their power to 
make impossible a democratic form of government. What a mockery, then, 
to decorate the saloons so profusely with bunting, when they are the worst 
enemies the flag could possibly have. 

Christianity not only saves the individual from sin, but it promotes political 
liberty by checking the base and low in man and encouraging the high and 
holy. It is a friend to a representative form of government. It has been the 
Christ spirit of the nineteenth century, more than anything else, that has 
secured the steadily increasing liberties to the common people of the world. 



GOOD DEEDS DELAYED TOO LONG 



NAPOLEON, as was his custom, passed over the field after the battle of 
Wagram. For a distance of almost nine miles there lay men dead and 
dying in every direction, as twenty-four thousand Austrians and eighteen 
thousand Frenchmen had fallen in the fight. The Emperor would often 
dismount, and with his own hand would wipe the blood and dust from the face of 
his brave boys. Among the dead he discovered the mangled body of a colonel who 
had occasioned his displeasure, and, looking seriously at him, he said : " I regret 
not having been able to speak to him before the battle, in order to tell him 
that I had long forgotten everything." 

There was a broken-hearted man on the streets of a town in Kentucky, a 
short time ago. He came from the mining regions of Idaho, where he had 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 155 

been working for thirteen years. He is known there as one of the most 
successful miners in that section. He was among the poorest when he reached 
Idaho, but now he owns a mine and has several well-paying interests. His 
return to Kentucky was for the purpose of finding his niece and her mother, 
who, at the time of his becoming a miner, were as poor as himself. In fact, 
they were scarcely able by their utmost exertions in sewing for the tailors 
of the town, to provide the necessaries of life. Before going to Idaho, the 
man had promised them that if he was successful he would provide for them, 
and, being a bachelor with no near relatives, he resolved to make them his 
heiresses. But for all the thirteen years of his absence he had not communicated 
with them. When he returned to Kentucky he took with him ten thousand 
dollars wrapped up in a package for them. He pleased himself on his journey 
by imagining their surprise and delight when he would place it in their hands. 
But he could not find them at the house where they formerly lived, and when 
he made inquiries about them in the town he learned that both were dead. 
They had become so discouraged by their hardships that they had committed 
suicide. The man's grief was intense, and it was increased by the thought 
that if he had only written to them when he began to prosper, telling them 
what he intended to do, they would not have committed the wicked act. 

The time to manifest right tempers and to do good deeds to our fellow- 
men is now. The uncertainty of life makes present benevolence wise ; we or our 
neighbor may be gone to-morrow, and with us our opportunity for the intended 
loving service. How many harsh words would be unsaid, and good resolves 
carried into execution, if men had only known that death were coming to 
make the separation forever ! What a joy it would have brought to the colonel's 
heart to have received the forgiveness of the Emperor. Poverty was no excuse 
for the suicide of the women, but it was a good reason why the miner ought 
to have sent his relief at an earlier date. It is a mistake to wait too long to 
render the physical and spiritual relief to our fellows which we intend. That 
ministry of love ought to be performed to-day — now. A single flower for the 
living breast is worth a wreath of them for the coffin. One single word or act 
of love performed is worth a thousand intended and delayed. 

^• *r» v» 

DEATH IN DELAY 



T 



HE steamship City of Rio Janeiro struck a hidden rock and went down in 
two hundred feet of water just outside the harbor of San Francisco. 

Rounsevelle Wildman, Consul General at Hong Kong, who became 
prominent during the trouble in the Philippines, was on board, with his 
wife and two children. All went down together. Mrs. Wildman was on the 



156 THE SPEAKING OAK 

ship's ladder, and Pilot Jordan, with one of her children in his arms, was close 
behind urging her to hurry. She hesitated and wanted to make certain that her 
children were safe. At the rail, directly behind Captain Ward, stood Mr. Wild- 
man, with his other child. 

There was a loud report, like an explosion. The deck had been riven 
asunder by the air which was forced up beneath it by the water. The ship went 
down like a cannon-ball thrown into the sea. 

Quartermaster Lindstrom, of the steamship City of Rio Janeiro, who was 
the last white man to leave the ship, said that Consul General Wildman lost his 
life and caused the death of his wife and children by remaining on board long 
after he could have gone in the boat. Captain Ward offered to Wildman the 
first chance in the boats, and Mrs. Wildman refused to go without her husband. 
Later Wildman urged her to go, and she was preparing to get into the boat when 
the ship sank. Lindstrom said : 

" Wildman evidently had something of great value in the ship's safe, for he 
came to me to find purser Rooney. I called the purser, and heard Wildman 
ask him to open the safe and get out a large tin box that bore his name. 
Wildman said, ' I will stay on deck till you return.' The purser went below 
and lost his life, for the ship sank before he had time to return. The last thing 
I saw of Wildman he was on the deck watching the gangway for the appearance 
of the purser." 

How many there are who permit the treasures and affairs of time and 
sense to delay them in taking to the lifeboat which is to save the soul ! 



A MACEDONIAN STUDENT GOES THROUGH YALE BY 
RUNNING A TROLLEY CAR > 



T Yale University some little time ago, the degree of Master of Arts was 
conferred upon Constantine Demeter Stephanove, a native of Bausko, 



Macedonia. The remarkable manner in which he supported himself 
during the seven years of his student life at Yale is described by him 
in an interview which is as follows : 

" The hardest work I have done was not in college. I left my home when 
I was sixteen. My mother did not wish me to come, but I was fired with an 
ambition to help my native land, and I saw that education was the first necessity 
of my people. 

" I came to this country and went up into Canterbury, Connecticut, where 
I secured work on a farm. There I saw some of the hardest work I have ever 
done. I milked ten cows night and morning, and was busy from the time 
I arose at daylight until dusk. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 157 

" Here I learned the language, and then I went to the preparatory school 
at Monson, Massachusetts. 

" I graduated from the Monson Academy in 1895, and came at once to 
Yale, where I began my studies. I waited on the table for a living during the 
first year or two, and later secured work on the trolley. 

" I don't suppose half my classmates imagined I was a trolley conductor, 
unless they saw me, and many of the professors would be surprised to hear 
of it, I am sure. And I doubt very much if many of my trolley friends knew 
that I was in Yale until they read of it recently. 

" On my graduation in 1899 I was still dissatisfied with my education 
and determined to keep on. Now that I have secured my degree and can 
speak the language fairly well, I intend to complete the work at a German 
University. 

" You may think it strange, but I have found five hours a day sufficient 
for sleep. 

" I have been on what is known as the * owl ' car, which runs all night, 
after all the other cars have stopped. I had to go on duty at midnight and 
work until 7:30 in the morning. After my day at college I would come home 
between 6 and 7 in the evening and allow nothing to interfere with my going 
to bed. Then I would sleep until nearly midnight, when I would get up, get 
my bite to eat and be off for the car. We usually made half a dozen trips at 
night, and I have seen all sorts of people. 

" In the morning when I finished I would continue my studies, which I had 
partly completed the afternoon previous, and be ready for the classroom. I 
have given all my time to work and study ; my exercise and recreation I obtained 
on the trolley," 

The struggles and victory of this young man remind us very much of the 
Macedonians of olden time, who arose with sublime heroism to subdue the 
people in letters and in morals. 

He has been brave, not like his fellow-countrymen under Philip, to con- 
quer men with swords of steel, but to wield over them the gentle sceptre of 
the degree at Yale. The great sea, a foreign land, new customs, a strange 
language and poverty, are barriers that would have kept a boy of average 
ability and average courage in a very narrow circle ; but this splendidly en- 
dowed young man counted them as nothing, and made them even tributary to 
his development and promotion. The most beautiful feature of his heroic 
conduct is the fact that his efforts have been to prepare himself for unselfish 
service for others ; he has gone to all this trouble through these many years 
that he may be enabled to return to his native land qualified to teach his own 
people. There were so many difficulties between the Macedonian boy and 
truth and love. 

It is the pride of American educational life that so many poor young men 



158 THE SPEAKING OAK 

work their way through college, and the lessons of enterprise, industry, self- 
reliance and self-denial are about as valuable as those learned from books 
and professors, in the development of manhood. It is also a matter of con- 
gratulation that so many poor young men put themselves through college that 
they may devote themselves unselfishly to the interest of others. 

^. V. ^» 

THE GERMAN EMPEROR'S SERMON 



AT the time of the siege of Pekin, the versatile German Emperor, who was 
spending the Sabbath on his royal yacht, preached a sermon on prayer for 
the army and navy, selecting as his text the nth verse of the 7th chapter 
of Exodus. The sermon was so remarkable that I quote a paragraph or 
two of it : " The prayer of the just man is mighty when it is sincere. Thus let it 
be! Away in the distant land the warrior hosts, here at home the hosts of 
supplicants. May that be the holy battle of our time." The Emperor then 
went on to point out how easily the soldier may lose his strength and cheerful- 
ness under the trials of war — the long marches under the blazing sun, the long 
nights under the pelting rain ; how even the most valiant may quail when, amid 
the thunder of cannon and the bursting of shell, his comrades fall on every 
side. Continuing, he said : " Fellow Christians, in order that our brethren 
may remain of good cheer under the worst privations, faithful when their duty 
is most diflEicult, unwavering when the danger is the greatest, they need some- 
thing more than ammunition and edged weapons ; more even than youthful 
courage and the fire of enthusiasm. They need the blessing from above. 
They need living strength and victorious might from above. Without these 
they cannot win or keep the victory. And this heavenly world is accessible 
to prayer alone. Prayer is the golden key to the treasury of our God. But 
whoso has this key has also the promise, ' Ask and ye shall receive.' " 

At the close of the sermon the Emperor offered this prayer: "Almighty 
God, dear Heavenly Father, O thou Lord of Hosts and Ruler of Battles, we 
raise our hands to Thee in prayer. To Thy goodness we commend the thou- 
sands of our brothers in arms. Shield Thou the lives of our sons with Thy 
omnipotent protection. Lead Thou our soldiers to a mighty victory. To Thy 
goodness we commend the wounded and the sick. Be Thou their consolation 
and their strength. Heal Thou their wounds. To Thy goodness we commend 
our people. Maintain and sanctify and strengthen the exaltation that now in- 
spires us. O Lord our God, we go forth relying on Thy help. In Thy name 
we raise our standards. O Lord, we will not let Thee go until Thou bless us. 
Amen." He then offered the Lord's Prayer, and the service was concluded 
with the benediction. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 159 

The Kaiser's faith reminds us of Washington and of Lincoln, of Albert 
and of Victoria, of his grandfather, William L, and of his father, Frederick HL 
When the young Emperor first took the throne, on the death of his father, 
he seemed to be impetuous, rash, rather poorly balanced in word and conduct; 
but either he has changed or public opinion misjudged him, for he is proving 
himself to be one of the most brilliant, brave and devout rulers of the world. 
The splendid German Empire comes into a beautiful bloom in William 11, and 
in his sermon and prayer. 

v» ^• ^• 

A GREAT ORATOR 



GENERAL HARRISON was a great orator as well as a great lawyer. He 
was an exception to the rule that the best judges are not the ablest speak- 
ers. There were men who had more fire and magnetism and overmaster- 
ing power in their address, but in clearness of thought, purity of literary 
style, strength of argument in the matter of the discourse, and in gracefulness and 
dignity in its delivery he had few equals. Good critics considered him the best ora- 
tor in the United States at the time of his death. His speeches to the delegations 
that visited him at Indianapolis during his Presidential canvass were marvels of 
wisdom and of eloquence. This is a sample, taken from his talk to the railroad 
men : " Heroism has been found at the throttle and at the brake, as well as on the 
battlefield, and as well worthy of song or marble. The trainman crushed between 
the platforms, who used his last breath not for prayer or message of love, but to 
say to the panic-stricken who gathered around him, ' Put out the red light for the 
other train,' inscribed his name very high upon the shaft where the names of the 
faithful and brave are written." No one who was present at the opening session of 
the great Missionary Conference in Carnegie Music Hall, New York, April 21, 
1900, will ever forget the scene. Fastened to the wall back of the platform was 
a large map of the world. Over the centre of it was the following : " The 
field is the world, the good seed are the children of the Kingdom." Over the 
Western Hemisphere was, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to the 
whole creation." Over the Eastern Hemisphere was, " And they went forth 
and preached everywhere." Upon the platform were missionaries from every 
land, and in the audience there were delegates from seventeen nationalities. The 
hall was crowded. Benjamin Harrison, who had been selected to preside over 
the meetings during the conference, arose to make the opening address. With 
hair and beard white, he stood like a sage — like a veritable prophet of God. 
The great audience was held spellbound by the charm of his eloquence, and was 
swept by a gust of human and divine enthusiasm as he closed with the following 
words : " The Bible does not draw its illustration wholly from the home or the 
field, but uses also the strenuous things of life — the race, the fight, girded soldier, 



i6o THE SPEAKING OAK 

the assault. There arc inany fields, there are diverse arms ; the battle is in the 
bush, and the comrades that are seen are few. A view of the whole army is a 
good thing ; the heart is strengthened by an enlarged comradeship ; it gives 
promise that the flanks will be covered and a reserve organized. After days 
in the bush the sense of numbers is lost. It greatly strengthens the soldier and 
quickens his pace when he advances to battle, if a glance to the right or left 
reveals many pennons and a marshalled host, moving under one great leader 
to execute a single battle plan. Once, in an advance of our army, the com- 
mander of a regiment could see no more than half of his own line, while the sup- 
ports to his right and left were wholly hidden. To him it seemed as if his bat- 
talion was making an unsupported assault. The extended line, the reserve, were 
matters of faith. But one day the advancing army broke suddenly from the 
bush into a savannah — a long, narrow, natural meadow — and the army was 
revealed. From the centre far to the right and left the distinctive corps, division, 
brigade and regimental colors appeared, and associated with each of these was 
the one flag that made the army one. A mighty spontaneous cheer burst from 
the whole line, and every soldier tightened his grip upon his rifle and quickened 
his step. What the savannah did for that army this world's conference of mis- 
sions should do for the church." Lord Chief Justice Coleridge, of England, on 
reading a volume of Mr. Harrison's speeches, said : " These speeches give 
me a very high idea of Mr. Harrison. It is pleasant to be brought face to face 
with any one so manly and high-minded as he shows himself to be in the book." 



FLOWERS THAT BLOOM IN THE NIGHT 



M 



ISS HELEN GOULD, at her country home at Tarrytown, has one of the 
most beautiful collection of plants in the United States. Her father, be- 
fore her, was passionately fond of flowers, and spent a small fortune on 
the plants and greenhouses. Twenty years ago he bought a singularly 
rare plant in Belgium. It was a night-blooming cereus, of the cactus family. 
Then it was only a foot high ; now, with its thick, prickly stems, in covers twenty- 
five square feet and requires a box twelve feet long to hold it. It never had a 
flower upon it until a few seasons ago, when it bloomed on a Monday and contin- 
ued to do so every night during the week. One night there were a hundred and 
twenty-four flowers opened. Miss Gould had lanterns hung at convenient places, 
and, in keeping with the proverbial kindness of her heart, invited her neighbors 
in to share with her the pleasure of witnessing the rare flowers bloom. During 
the week there were more than five hundred blossoms opened. The buds began 
to open at dusk and were in full bloom by midnight. 

The plant gre^v for twenty years before it produced a single flower. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES i6i 

Things that are to Hve a long while take a long time for development. There 
are weeds that grow with a strong stalk and a gaudy bloom, to be chopped 
down by the first hard frost ; the oak, that intends to live a hundred years, takes 
a long time to mature. There are little creatures which come to their maturity 
in one day, to die the next. But man, with his possible fourscore in view, 
advances very slowly to the maximum of his power, spending from a third to 
a fourth of the period of his earthly existence before he is ready to begin his 
business or profession. They have to live as long as the cactus plant did before 
they bring forth their first flower. 

There are flowers of virtue and piety which bloom only in the night. 
They begin to unfold at dusk, as the light is chased away by the shadows of 
the night, and they come into the perfect beauty of full-bloom at midnight. 
God often makes the darkest nights bring forth the brightest stars ; the blackest 
midnight of afSiction and sorrow produces the loveliest flowers of heaven. 



PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S ADVICE TO YOUNG CHRISTIANS 



PRESIDENT McKINLEY, with most of the members of his Cabinet, 
started upon a tour of the South and the West, which was one continuous 
ovation, with flowers, and receptions, and banquets, and speeches. The 
dangerous illness of Mrs. McKinley caused a sudden halt in the plans and 
a return of the party home. The President's addresses were timely, able, patriotic 
and inspiring. The one delivered in San Francisco, just before he started home 
with his wife, was so good and helpful that it ought to be read and pondered over 
by every religious young people's society of America. It was delivered at an 
impromptu reception given by the Epw^orth League and Christian Endeavor 
Society at the California Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and is as 
follows : 

" It gives me great pleasure on this, the last evening of my stay in your 
hospitable city, to meet with the young men and the young women of the 
Epworth League and the Christian Endeavor, and the union of the Baptist 
Church and the Christian young people generally, who have dedicated them- 
selves to the holy cause of Christian teaching. 

" I congratulate you that you are to be the host of the great International 
Epworth League Convention, to be held in your city in the month of July, for 
the success of which you have my best wishes. I congratulate you upon the 
noble work in which you are engaged, and the great results which have fol- 
lowed your efforts. 

" He who serves the Master best serves man best, and he who serves truth 
serves civilization. There is nothing that lasts so long or wears so well and is 



i62 THE SPEAKING OAK 

of such inestimable advantage to the possessor as high character and an upright 
life, and that is what you teach by example and by instruction. 

"And when you are serving man by helping him to be better and nobler, 
you are serving your country. I do not know whether it is true that every 
man is the architect of his own fortune, but surely every man is the architect 
of his own character, and he is the builder of his own character. It is what 
he makes it, and it is growing all the time easier both to do right and to be 
right. 

" With our churches, our Young Men's Christian Associations, our various 
church societies, every assistance is given for righteous living and righteous 
doing. It is no longer a drawback to the progress of a young man to be a 
member of a Christian Church. It is no embarrassment ; it is an encourage- 
ment. It is no hindrance ; it is a help. 

" There never was in all the past such a demand as now for incorruptible 
character, strong enough to resist every temptation to do wrong. We need it 
in every relation of life, in the home, in the store, in the bank, and in the great 
business affairs of the country. 

" We need it in the discharge of the new duties that have come to the 
Government. It is needed everywhere never more than at this hour. I am glad 
to show my interest in the great cause for which you are enlisted, for you are 
helping all the time home and family, law and liberty and country." 

One of the most significant facts in the religious progress of the nineteenth 
century has been the interest the church has taken in the spiritual development 
of the children and young people, and one reason why the last half of the nine- 
tenth century has been the most productive period in the Christian Church 
since Apostolic times, is because the Holy Spirit has inspired the Church with a 
sense of the necessity of saving the young and enlisting them in diligent Chris- 
tian service. Hundreds of thousands, even millions, have marched out of the 
Sunday School into efficient membership in the Church. Although there are 
many temptations which beset boys and girls, young men and women, and 
although many of them yield to those temptations, there never has been a time 
since the world began when young people have been more devoted to God and 
his cause than at the present time. President McKinley's tribute to the influence of 
these organizations, which develop and save the young, was encouraging. His 
insistence on the necessity of building up a true character was wise. Young 
people ought to build their characters like some of the cathedrals, cruciform, on 
Christ on the Cross — not with wood or hay or stubble, material to be burned 
up, but with right thoughts, and holy deeds. Then the character will be a palace 
built of precious stones, and the tempests of time shall not move it, nor the 
storms of death harm it ; the fires of the last day shall not be able so much as 
to smoke it ; it will stand stately, magnificent, enduring, reflecting the dazzling 
splendors of an Eternal Sun. 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 163 

THE ATHEIST AND CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL 

OW fortunate our Government was, at the beginning, in its judicial as well 
as executive and legislative departments. What a providence there was 
in the appointment of John Marshall as the Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States ! The centennial of his elevation to the Su- 
preme judiciary was celebrated February 4, 1901, in a becoming manner at Wash- 
ington, Richmond, and many of the great cities of the country. One has said of 
him, " By common consent, almost, he is pictured in the public mind as holding to- 
gether the sovereign States, welding and solidifying them into a greater and nobler 
union than even the founders of the Government dreamed of as possible. The 
bar and the bench consider him an ideal man, the ablest lawyer of his generation, 
the unrivaled jurist whose interpretation of the Constitution has never ceased to 
be a standard, the public man whose services to the people as a soldier, diplomat, 
statesman and judge entitle him to a place in the American heart, not inferior 
to the place occupied by Washington and Lincoln." 

John Marshall was as deep in his religious convictions, and as consistent 
in his Christian life as he was great as a lawyer, or renowned as a jurist. His 
splendid character gave additional weight to his opinions, and his spiritual 
nature irradiated his life and gave to it an inexpressible charm. One evening 
Justice Marshall rode up to the village hotel at Winchester, Virginia, in his little 
two-wheel buggy. The gig was in a dilapidated condition. One of the shafts 
had broken and was tied up with a piece of hickory bark. He was never very 
careful about his clothing, and he looked peculiarly weatherbeaten that evening. 
The people at the hotel took him to be an ordinary traveler. After supper the 
gentlemen guests gathered in the office, as was the custom, for chat or debate. 
The question of the Christian religion was introduced. A brilliant young law- 
yer, an atheist, had seemed to get the best of the others in his argument, and, 
turning to the stranger, who had remained silent, he said, " My old gentleman, 
what do you think of these things ? " Chief Justice Marshall had scarcely 
opened his mouth before lightning struck the young man, argumentatively 
speaking, and killed him before he knew it. Those who were there say they 
never heard or read such a masterly defence of Christianity, nor such a fearful 
arraignment of the folly and sin of atheism. 

Chief Justice Fuller and the late Chief Justice Waite have both made men- 
tion of the fact that John Marshall never retired at night without offering the 
Lord's Prayer and the little child's prayer, " Now I lay me down to sleep." 
In these times, when some think it smart to doubt, and that it is an evidence of 
intellectual ability to reject God and his revealed truth, it is well to remember 
that John Marshall, one of the greatest minds and lawyers and judges that this 
or any other country ever produced, was a simple, sincere, childlike believer in 
God and his Word. 



i64 THE SPEAKING OAK 

A KING DEVOTES HIMSELF AND HIS NATION TO RELIGION 



AFTER the death of Romulus, the first King of Rome, the government was 
administered by the Senate, but as it was more despotic than under the 
former rule, the people demanded a king. There was great difficulty in 
making a selection. At last it was agreed that the Roman faction should 
choose the ruler, but that he should be taken from among the Sabines. The eyes of 
the people turned instinctively toward Numa Pompilius. He was wise, affection- 
ate and honorable, but he was noted, above everything else, for his piety. He 
claimed that in his individual life the gods guided him, to the minutest degree, 
in every step and plan ; and it was largely because the people believed that the 
gods were with him and would help him rule that they wanted him to be their 
king. But he, true man that he was, considering the realities of life of more 
value than its incidents ; that the enjoyment of a well-earned competency, rest, 
study, communion with the deities, were more desirable than the sound of 
brazen trumpets, the splendid equipages, the spectacular displays and the dis- 
tressing perplexities of royalty, did not feel like listening to the call of the 
people to become their king. And when the deputation called upon him with 
the offer of the crown, he made the following answer : 

" Every change of human life has its dangers, but when a man has a suf- 
ficiency of everything, and there is nothing in his present situation to be com- 
plained of, what but madness can lead him from his usual track of life, which, 
if it has no other advantage, has that of certainty, to experience another as yet 
doubtful and vmknown? But the dangers that attend this government are 
beyond an uncertainty, if we may form a judgment from the fortunes of 
Romulus, who labored under the suspicion of taking off Tatius, his colleague, 
and was supposed to have lost his own life with equal injustice. Yet Romulus 
is celebrated as a person of divine origin, as supernaturally nourished when an 
infant, and most wonderfully preserved. For my part, I am only of mortal 
race, and you are sensible my nursing and education boast of nothing extra- 
ordinary. As to my character, if it has any distinction, it has been gained in 
a way not likely to qualify me for a king, in scenes of repose and in employ- 
ments by no means arduous. My genius is inclined to peace, my love has 
long been fixed upon it, and I have studiously avoided the confusion of war; 
I have also drawn others, as far as my influence extended, to the worship of the 
gods, to nmtual offices of friendship, and to spend the rest of their time in tilling 
the ground and feeding cattle. The Romans may have unavoidable wars left 
on their hands by their late king, for the maintaining of which you have need 
of another more active and enterprising. Besides, the people are of a warlike 
disposition, spirited with success, and plainly enough discover their inclination 
to extend their conquests. Of course, therefore, a person who has set his heart 
upon the promoting of religion and justice, and drawing men off from the love 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 165 

of violence and war, would soon become ridiculous and contemptible to a city 
that has more occasion for a general than a king." 

But his father and his particular friend, Marcius, urged him to accept 
the honor, in the following words : " If contented with a competence, you 
desire not riches nor aspire after the honor of sovereignty, having a higher and 
better distinction in virtue, then consider that a king is the minister of God, 
who now awakes and puts in action your native wisdom and justice. Decline 
not, therefore, an authority which, to a wise man, is a field for great and good 
actions ; where dignity may be added to religion, and men may be brought 
over to piety in the easiest and readiest way by the influence of the prince." 

This suggestion, that it might be his religious duty to accept the honor, led 
him to change his mind, and he started for the city of Rome. The members 
of the Senate came out to meet him, and the people were wild with enthusiasm 
over him. The citizens, without a dissenting vote, elected him as their king. 
They were in the act of inducting him into the royal olHce when he called a 
halt in the ceremonies, and said he was not sure that the gods would sanction 
the step; and taking the priests, he went to the Tarpeian rock to consult them. 
As the chief priest ofifered prayer the birds of good omen flew to the right. 
Then Numa, taking the royal robe, went down the mountains, where the people 
met him with loud applause, and entered upon his reign. During his adminis- 
tration he did many important things — he turned the attention of the people to 
farming and religion, and in so doing gave to Rome one of the most successful 
periods in its history. He had such a high idea of the deities that he would not 
allow any image of them to be made or be used. He said the gods were 
intellect, affection, spirituality, and that it was unbecoming and wrong to worship 
images of them ; and, while he multipHed temples, he permitted no idols in them. 

An ancient writer thus speaks of Numa's successful reign : " In Numa's 
reign the door of Janus was not opened for one day, but stood constantly shut 
during the space of forty-three years, while uninterrupted peace reigned in every 
quarter. Not only the people of Rome were softened and humanized by the 
justice and mildness of the king, but even the circumjacent cities, breathing, as 
it were, the same salutary and delightful air, began to change their behavior. 
Like the Romans, they became desirous of peace and good laws, of cultivating 
the ground, educating their children in tranquillity, and paying homage to the 
gods. Italy then was taken up with festivals and sacrifices, games and enter- 
tainments ; the people, without any apprehension of danger, mixed in a friendly 
manner and treated each other with mutual hospitality ; the love of virtue and 
justice as from the source of Numa's wisdom, gently flowing upon all and moving 
with the composure of his heart. Even the hyperbolical expressions of the 
poets fall short of describing the happiness of those days. We have no account 
of war or Insurrection in Numa's reign. Nay, he experienced neither enmity 
nor envy ; nor did ambition dictate either open or private attempts against his 



i66 THE SPEAKING OAK 

crown. Whether it were the fear of the gods who took so pious a man under 
their protection, or reverence of his virtue, or the singular good fortune of his 
times, that kept the manners of men pure and unsulhed, he was an ilhistrious 
instance of that truth which Plato, several ages after, ventured to deliver con- 
cerning government, ' That the only sure prospect of deliverance from the evils 
of life will be when the Divine Providence shall so order it, that the regal power 
so invested in a prince who has the sentiments of a philosopher shall render 
virtue triumphant over vice.' A man of such wisdom is not only happy in 
himself, but contributes, by his instructions, to the happiness of others. There 
is in truth no need either of force or menaces to direct the multitude ; for when 
they see virtue exemplified in so glorious a pattern as the life of their prince they 
become wise themselves and endeavor, by friendship and unanimity, by a strict 
regard to justice and temperance, to form themselves to a happy life. This is 
the noblest end of government, and he is most worthy of the royal seat who 
can regulate the lives and dispositions of his subjects in such a manner. No one 
was more sensible of this than Numa." 

The deep piety of Numa gave him perfect contentment in private life, 
and also prompted him, when he was certain that it was the Divine will, to 
assume the responsibilities of office. There ought to be more persons to-day 
who would copy his example in entering public life ; they are contented in pri- 
vate life, but they could accomplish untold good by holding office, and by their 
example and labors lift up the standard of public morals. They complain of 
corruption in politics, but are unwilling to make the personal sacrifice to purify 
that corruption. 

Numa was wise in turning the attention of his people to farming; it was a 
good step from an economical and from a moral point of view. Agriculture is 
the base of all other industries ; men must wear clothing and eat food before 
they can do anything else. Farming is also helpful to the morals of the country ; 
there is something about the industry — the solitude and the contact with 
nature — which encourages meditation and reverence. With the rush of people to 
the cities in the settlement of their sociological questions, and even the question 
of self-government, rustic virtue and religion are helpful factors. 

The king showed his greatest wisdom in the estimate he put upon the 
relation between religion and the prosperity and happiness of a nation, and 
his administration furnished one of the most splendid specimens of the value 
of religion to politics in the history of the world. It is a wonder that people 
in that far-off time, with so little light, should have had so good a religion — one 
that would produce such an exalted patriotism, correct habits and unalloyed hap- 
piness. The most prosperous and happy nations to-day are those that have em- 
braced and express in their lives the Christian religion ; and there is no such 
lofty patriotism, sound morals, pure spirituality and supreme happiness as in 
the nations that are dominated by the spirit and teachings of Christ. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 167 

Daniel Webster, at the close of one of his great orations, makes the follow- 
ing" reference to the relation of religion to national life : " Finally, let us not 
forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither 
by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light 
and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the 
elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institu- 
tions, civil, political or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments and extend 
their influence still more widely, in the full conviction that it is the happiest 
society which partakes in the highest degree of the mild and peaceful spirit 
of Christianity." 



THE VALUE OF A SOUL 

REV. GEORGE P. ECKMAN, D.D., pastor of St. Paul's Methodist Epis- 
copal Church of New York City, preached a sermon in which he thus 
spoke of the value of a soul, irrespective of circumstances : 

" The street railways of America are among our most democratic 
institutions. In the chariots provided by the corporations which operate these lines 
of transit ride millionaires and mendicants, the cultured and the unkempt, the 
clean and the unclean, with extraordinary indiscrimination. Here is a marvel 
of social equalization. An electric car may contain the germinant forces of a 
revolution or a reformation. It frequently does enclose the most diverse 
elements of our complex civilization. On an Amsterdam Avenue car, the other 
afternoon, rode together on opposite sides of the aisle a company of young 
women from the classic shades of the college which crowns yonder summit with 
its imposing buildings, and a group of Italian laborers fresh from the street. 
The students from academic halls were bright-faced, animated in expression, 
with the light of intelligence flashing from their eyes, their arms laden with 
books and manuscripts. They were looking toward a future splendid with 
promise, and the sunshine of heaven seemed to be resting on their brows. The 
humble toilers were begrimed with mire, they smelt of garlic and beer, they 
were stolid and dumb. Their eyes were listless, their bearing negligent. They 
saw no day-star of promise, and the shadow of perdition hung like a pall over 
their brows. One could not help musing over the relative values which society 
would put upon those typical groups. Let an accident occur and every occu- 
pant be killed ; which would appear the greater calamity, the loss of those 
college girls or the death of those stupid toilers? There can be no doubt what 
society would say ; there can be no question what the newspapers would inti- 
mate. The destruction of those cultured young persons would be esteemed 
vastly more serious than the loss of those laborers. And if we regard people 
merely for what they have accumulated and what they can contribute, probably 



i68 THE SPEAKING OAK 

this judgment is correct. But, difficult as it may be to realize it, the Christian 
view of human worth makes the soul of that ugliest street-digger as valuable 
as the soul of that fairest girl across the aisle. The mission of Christ is as 
ardently urged to reach that humble worker as to gain that beautiful woman. 
The mechanism of the church should be as scientifically adapted to capture the 
one as the other. When they have been severally united to the Christian com- 
munity, the function of each will not be identical. The ability of the one will be 
laid under contribution to compensate for the disability of the other." 



REMARKS OF PETER COOPER AT THE OPENING OF 

COOPER UNION 



A POOR mechanic, after having struggled unsuccessfully through several 
enterprises, sold his little grocery business in New York for two thousand 
dollars and bought a glue factory out in the country, on the ground now 
occupied by the Park Avenue Hotel. He made money very rapidly in 
this business. He had spent much time inventing agencies for the material welfare 
of mankind, and now he set his mind earnestly to the task of organizing some pub- 
lic instrumentality for the intellectual, moral and religious benefit of his fellow 
men. Having acquired the property between Seventh and Eighth streets and 
Third and Fourth avenues, he spent the first seven hundred thousand dollars he 
had saved in his glue business in erecting a building and equipping it for the ad- 
vancement of science and art. On January i, 1859, the Cooper Union School of 
Science and Art was opened, and after Dr. Draper had made an address, intro- 
ductory to the course of scientific instruction, Mr. Cooper made a speech, which 
he commenced as follows: 

" This building has scarcely been absent from my thought for a single day 
for thirty years. I have labored for it by night and by day with an intensity 
of desire that can never be explained." Speaking to young men on the neces- 
sary equipments for the voyage of life, he said : " That still, small voice is 
constantly telling us to do to others as we would that others should do to us. 
This precept is for us the true barometer of life. I mean the power to follow 
the glorious example of Christ will enable you, like him when a child, to grow 
in knowledge and stature and in favor with God and man. He, by doing always 
those things that are well pleasing to his Father and our Father — by doing 
unto others as he would that they should do unto hiin — was enabled to over- 
come all evil ; and, although tempted in all points as we are, yet he lived without 
sin. It is our highest wisdom to follow his lovely example, by avoiding all 
that is wrong and by doing what good we can in the world. It is our principle 
always to steer our course by the compass of truth and duty. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 169 

" What could have been done for us more than to give us a spark of his 
own immortahty and to give us the world and all that is in it, and only require 
of us that we should keep, subdue and hold dominion in order to find good 
in the right and wise application and use of everything throughout all the great 
garden of the world. Let us employ character, wisdom, virtue, and we will 
have a safe passage through life. Then will the star of hope shine with ever- 
brightening splendor on our way, showing the wisdom, power and goodness 
of the Father of all by connecting our greatest virtue with our greatest bliss, 
and by making 

" ' Our own bright prospect to be blest. 
Our strongest motive to assist the rest.' " 

As the years went by, multitudes availed themselves of the privileges of the 
institution. At an anniversary service held in the same hall, Mr. Cooper, an 
old man of ninety years, made another speech, expressing gratitude to God for 
having been permitted to witness the success of his cherished scheme. Among 
other things, he said : " I feel now as well as I ever did in my life, except for 
slight twinges which are occasioned by the accident which befell me years ago. 
But still I hear a voice calling to me, as my mother often did when I was a boy, 
* Peter, Peter, it is about bedtime,' and I have an old man's presentiment that 
I will be taken soon. Let me say, then, in conclusion, that my experience 
in life has not dimmed my hope for humanity ; that my sun is not setting in 
clouds and darkness, but is going down cheerfully in a clear firmament, lighted 
up by the glory of God, who should always be venerated and loved as the 
Infinite Source and Fountain of Light, Life, Power, Wisdom and Goodness." 

The old man's presentiment came true. In a year or two he was gathered 
to his fathers. He was rich, not because he made a million of dollars in glue, 
but because he invested that money for the intellectual and moral benefit of 
his fellow men. He became immortal, not because he had successful iron works 
in Pennsylvania, but because he founded Cooper Union. 

^ ^. ^. 

DISREGARD OF THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH 



REV. RICHARD HIORNS relates the following well-authenticated incident 
of Queen Victoria's regard for the Sabbath : 

" Among all the good traits of ' The Good Queen of England,^ I 
think the decided stand she took at the very beginning of her reign for the 
strict observance of the Sabbath reflects great credit on her, especially when we 
remember what was the low state of morals in court circles at the time of her acces- 
sion. Early in her reign, one Saturday night, the Prime Minister arrived at Wind- 



I70 THE SPEAKING OAK 

sor and sent an urgent request to her Majesty for an audience as early as possible 
on Sunday morning on ' important state business.' The Queen sent her regrets 
that she could not see him that night, as she had already retired, but said she 
hoped to see him at the eleven o'clock service in St. George's Chapel, and would 
like the pleasure of his company to luncheon afterward. Early Sunday morning 
she sent a message to the preacher of the morning, requesting him to preach 
' a good, strong sermon on the necessity for Sabbath observance.' The Cabinet 
minister went to church. Her Majesty was there, and at the close of the service 
they met. During the lunch she asked his opinion of the sermon. He had not 
much to say about it. Later, his lordship was invited to dine with the Queen. 
Nothing whatever was said of the ' very urgent business.' When bidding him 
good-night, her Majesty said : ' I can give your lordship an audience as early 
to-morrow morning as you please. What hour shall it be — five or six o'clock ? ' 
* Oh, thank your Majesty, but I would not think of disturbing you at such an 
unseemly hour. Nine o'clock will do.' That was the last time that Queen 
Victoria was requested to attend to 'important state affairs' on Sunday." 

The growing disregard of the Christian Sabbath should alarm good people. 
This disregard is noticed not only in unbelievers, but in too many of those who 
profess to be followers of Christ. The line used to be drawn by the Christian 
at blacking the shoes, shaving, or taking a ride on Sunday, but now the member 
of the church with a respectable standing will spend the morning with his 
Sunday newspaper, instead of attending church ; will have his Sunday afternoon 
amusement instead of visiting the sick, and will wind up the day in social enter- 
tainment of one kind or another at his house or at the house of a friend ; and he 
will have little or no compunction of conscience on the subject, justifying himself 
with the excuse that, being shut up to business all the week, he must have some 
time for recreation. There are many who take an early train or boat for some 
resort in the mountains or by the sea, and spend the livelong day in mirth or 
sport or dissipation ; and the apology which is made for them, in and out of the 
pulpit, that they can see God in the mountain and ocean and winding stream, 
is a huge joke, for God is the very Being that they are making their excursion to 
escape, if we except the god that may conceal himself in the billiard ball, the 
deck of cards, the dancing floor, the questionable amusement or the beer mug. 
Many who get on their wheels, and excuse themselves to their conscience with 
the thought that they are going to see God in the flowers and fields and groves 
and singing birds, start in the opposite direction from God, and each hour carries 
them farther away from the church, the Sunday School, the prayer meeting 
and Christian duty, and not a few at the close of the Lord's day find themselves, 
like the Prodigal, " in a far-off country." The more wealthy, who give up so 
much of the day to out-of-door sports, with the excuse that they are innocent and 
healthful, know, deep down in their better self, that as a means of grace their 
recreation is far from being a success, and that the substitution of the modern 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 171 

gentlemen's sport for the simple, sincere faith of their fathers, is drying up the 
foimtains of spiritual life and joy. The entertainments given on Sunday night by 
what are called the best families are not only rivals, but positive enemies, of 
the services of the Christian Church. In a conversation with Senator Chauncey 
M. Depew on this subject one day, he said to me : 

" The very rich are being weaned away from attendance upon the church 
and loyalty to it by the growing custom of making Sunday a day of social 
enjoyment. Riding, driving, big dinners, gay circles of invited guests are 
supplanting the church in the afifections of the extremely rich. Some of the 
families of the very rich are constant in their attendance on all the services of 
the church, parents and children being intensely loyal to all its interests ; but a 
larger number are letting the religious go for the social. It is the old story 
of the camel and the eye of the needle." 

Calling at the parsonage of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, of New 
York, I commended the late Dr. John Hall for a sermon he had preached on 
" The Social Dangers of High Life," and he said to me : 

" There is a growing disposition among the wealthy to spend Sunday in 
riding, driving, giving parties, and other entertainments which are unfriendly 
to the church. It not only keeps the members of the family away from 
religious duty, but large numbers of male and female servants, who are made 
to desecrate the Lord's day to pander to their masters' folly and sin. Back of 
my house are a number of livery stables. The other day I went over to see if I 
could not persuade some of the stablemen and drivers to attend my church. 
They said, ' No, the demands on us are so great we can have no time for 
church.' " 

The fact that dissipation has come to be so much a part of Sabbath desecra- 
tion has led the law-breaking saloon-keepers to persist more in breaking the 
Sunday law than any other, because they claim that it is their best day in the 
week — equal to almost any other two days. 

Unless there shall be some check or reform in their habit of Sabbath 
desecration, our Sunday laws will be gradually so modified that the doors of 
shops, ofBces, stores, mills and other places of employment will be thrown 
wide open in answer to the demand of avarice, which is always crying, "Give me 
more," and the workingmen will find themselves slaves, sure enough, with 
seven days' work and possibly six days' pay. And the men of wealth will find 
themselves in a country, where lawlessness will give very poor protection 
to their property or themselves. If the moral phase of the question were left 
out, and the economic one only considered, it would be to the interest of both 
capital and labor to insist upon the maintenance of the Christian Sabbath. 
But there is a moral and religious side of the question which Christians, even, 
too often overlook and too readily yield. Sunday laws are civil, to be sure, 
in every land and clime, and yet the Anglo-Saxon has put them in his code 



172 THE SPEAKING OAK 

chiefly because he thinks they are in obedience to one of the Ten Command- 
ments, and has cherished them because he beheves the All Father desires to have 
one day kept for himself. It is neither the wise nor fair thing to take the 
results of the Anglo-Saxon civilization, and then divorce ourselves from the cen- 
tral idea which has most made that civilization — that of loyalty to Almighty God. 
The late President McKinley and President Roosevelt have set good 
examples to the people in their regular attendance upon church services, and 
in their careful recognition of the sanctity of the Lord's day. It would be well 
for the world if the people generally were to entertain the views and adopt 
the habits of Queen Victoria and Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt on the 
question of Sabbath observance. 



FRANKLIN'S FAITH IN IMMORTALITY 



B 



ENJAMIN FRANKLIN, knowing that people had slandered him by mis- 
judging and misrepresenting his religious opinions, determined to set 
the matter at rest for all time by writing the following epitaph, which 
was to be placed on his tomb : 

" The Body 

of 

Benjamin Franklin, Printer, 

Like the Cover of an Old Book, 

Its Contents Torn Out, 

And Stripped of Its Lettering and Gilding, 

Lies Here, Food for Worms. 

Yet the Work Itself Shall not be Lost ; 

for it will, as He Believed, Appear Once More 

in a New 

and More Beautiful Edition, 

Corrected and Amended 

by 

The Author." 

Franklin needed no tombstone and no epitaph. The trade which he hon- 
ored, the brotherly love which he promulgated, the electrical inventions which 
have been the result of his early discovery, the great commonwealth which he 
had so important a share in founding, and his simple faith in God and obedience 
to his commandments are his monument and epitaph. Although these lines 
were never placed upon the tomb, they have been engraven in the hearts of 
Americans as an inspiration to a stronger faith in immortality and the resurrec- 
tion. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 173 

A BOY RUNS AWAY FROM HOME 



THERE was an old retired minister who belonged to our church in a West- 
ern city. His name was Samuel Longden. His head was bald and his 
beard long and white ; his tone was rather monotonous, and his voice was 
deep and strong ; he had excellent common sense and was a good preacher. 
He was very regular in his attendance upon the services of the church, usually 
sitting in the altar and often assisting in the opening or closing services He was 
kind in spirit and true and loyal to me personally. I always felt better when he 
and two or three other aged ministers were present in the meeting. One day 
Father Longden came to the door of the parsonage, where I met him. His face was 
radiant as he said, " Oh, pastor, I have good news for you, good news," and 
he alternately laughed and cried. " Sit down and let me tell you what it is 
that makes me so happy. Twenty-five years ago, in a State far east of here, I 
had my home. We were having family prayers one morning, when one of 
my boys indulged in a game of marbles while I was praying. I caught him at it 
and switched him. He went out of the house into the yard, and when dinner- 
time came he was not at the table. I thought he had been persuaded to dine 
with some playmate, or had perhaps gone to see a relative in another part 
of the town, and felt no uneasiness about him. At supper-time he did not make 
his appearance, and I began to feel quite anxious. We searched everywhere in 
vain for him ; we spent the night looking for him. The next day we dragged the 
canal, and looked in every open well and in every place of danger, for his body. 
I have never seen his face since and have never heard a line from him until 
to-day. I have just received from the ofifice, a letter from the postmaster of a 
town in Kansas to the postmaster of this place, asking if there is a man living 
here by the name of Samuel Longden, and that if there is to tell him that his 
lost boy is alive and wants to come home. That letter has almost set me wild 
with joy. The name of the man mentioned in the letter is the name of my 
son, and I am so happy at the thought of meeting him again. I have written 
my little boy — now a man thirty-two years old — to come to us as quickly as 
the train can carry him, and I hurried to your house as rapidly as I could at the 
discovery of my boy, who was dead and is alive again, who was lost and is 
found. You could appreciate my joy a little better if you only knew what 
terrible sorrow I have endured. I have never had a real happy day in all the 
twenty-five years since the boy left home. If I had known that he was dead, 
then the wound, which was severe enough, would have had some opportunity 
to heal, but twenty-five years of awful suspense has brought an anguish to my 
heart which no language can describe. I have often thought I was too severe 
with him that morning; that if I had corrected him a little more tenderly I 
might have drawn him to, instead of driven him away from, me ; but they used 
the rod more in those days than we do now, and I did, at the time, what I 



174 THE SPEAKING OAK 

thought was best for him. Mind you, I do not excuse the boy's irreverence, 
nor his early rebellion, but now, thank God, the black night of my sorrow is 
past, and the bright day of my joy has come. Pastor, another reason why I 
have come to see you is, that you may be of possible spiritual service to my 
son. I do not know whether he is a Christian or not ; if he should be, I know 
you will rejoice with me in the fact; if he should not be, I bespeak your 
kindly service in his behalf." 

No fiction ever seemed so strange or thrilling as the true story of this old 
man ; when he was dwelling upon the sad parts of the incident the tears would 
pour down his face, and when he came to the joyful part he would smile 
and almost shout with delight. Sure enough, the train on Saturday brought 
the boy home, and he was in the church Sunday morning. I shall never forget 
him, as he sat on my right under the window and hung on every word that 
was uttered. He had not given his heart to Christ, and I prepared my sermon 
with special reference to him, and I have reason to believe that I had some little 
share in bringing the prodigal, who had returned to his earthly father's home, 
to the Heavenly Father's heart. 

Both with and without provocation, young men often stray out into the 
world into a life of mystery and discontent, bringing a deep shadow of gloom 
upon the home which they have left. It is a fortunate thing when such come 
to themselves and return to the hearts that long for and love them. Always 
without provocation, the sinner strays away from God, the home of the soul, 
and goes into a far country, falling into evil company, contracting evil habits 
and at last perishing with starvation. It is fortunate for him if he shall come 
to his senses; discover his lost condition and return to his Heavenly Father. 
The nearest the Saviour could come to telling the joy of the Infinite heart at the 
return of a wandering soul was to describe an earthly father running to meet 
and embrace his prodigal son. I never recall Father Longden's joy in finding 
his son, that I do not think of the infinitely greater joy of the Divine Father's 
heart at the return of his penitent child. 



BIRDS OF PARADISE 



T 



HE irrational creatures have an instinct which prompts them to take par- 
ticular care of their clothing ; this is especially true of birds. There are 
some, however, that overdo their attention to their wardrobe; they pufif 
out and spread their feathers and strut ridiculously. There are some 
whose vanity gets them into a great deal of trouble. The birds of paradise are the 
coxcombs of the trees. Scarcely anything affords them so much pleasure as show- 
ing off their fine feathers. In the countries in which they live, the males will select 
a tree sufficiently conspicuous for the purpose, and will dance from branch to 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 175 

branch, exhibiting the clothing of which they are so proud. The natives, taking 
advantages of the early sport and dress-parade, thump a single bird with a blunt 
arrow, stunning it, and causing it to fall, when it is picked up and killed without 
the shedding of blood. But the rest of the birds are so bent on the display of 
their finery that they pay no attention to this massacre until quite a number have 
been destroyed. 

A proper care for dress is a duty, but excessive attention to the wardrobe 
is a weakness, a fault. The human powter-pigeons, peacocks, and birds of 
paradise can be seen strutting and sporting on the streets every day. Nothing 
makes them so happy as for people to be attracted by the beauty of the feathers 
which they wear. They are the dudes and butterflies of society. It would be 
well if the vain displays of such were only an idle exercise. They are the occa- 
sions of the greatest moral danger. Vanity is a vice which exposes the soul 
to the arrows of Satan, which so frequently bring it down. 



LAST MESSAGE OF ALFRED THE GREAT TO HIS SON 



THERE were ten centuries between Victoria and Alfred. The death of the 
Queen was mourned and the thousandth anniversary of the great king was 
celebrated the same year. The dust of oblivion has hidden most of the 
faces and events of the past, but Alfred's mental and moral features stand 
out more distinctly as the years go by. He is more respected, revered and loved 
than when he lived and fought and ruled on the earth, and the British people show 
their gratitude to the founder of their monarchy by a fitting celebration of his death. 
Among the incidents connected with the event celebrated, none is more beauti- 
ful than his last words to his son. As he lay upon his deathbed he summoned 
to his side his eldest son, Edward, and gave to him his farewell advice : 

" Thou, my dear son, set thee now beside me, and I will deliver thee true 
instructions. I feel that my hour is coming. My strength is gone ; my counte- 
nance is wasted and pale. My days are almost ended. We must now part. 
I go to another world, and thou art to be left alone in the possession of all 
that I have thus far held. I pray thee, my dear child, to be a father to thy 
people. Be the children's father and the widow's friend. Comfort the poor, 
protect and shelter the weak, and with all thy might right that which is wrong. 
And, my son, govern thyself by law. Then shall the Lord love thee, and God 
himself shall be thy reward. Call thou upon him to advise thee in all thy 
need, and he shall help thee to compass all thy desires." 

If no other sayings of his had been preserved, these would entitle him 
to be called Alfred the Great. After a thousand years of growth in English 
learning and religion, it is hard to find anything in the Victorian age in method 



176 THE SPEAKING OAK 

of expression, or quality of thought, or nobility of sentiment superior to this 
message of Alfred to his son. It would be well for individuals and nations to 
embody these principles in their character and life. 



LINCOL>] AMD HIS PET PIG 

OtN one occasion, when visiting Captain Gilbert J. Greene, I said to him : " 1 
J have come to listen to some stories about Lincoln. If possible, tell me 
some which have not yet found their way into print," He said : " No 
earthly subject gives me such pleasure as the one you suggest; I will 
relate some incidents which I think have never before been published." I said, 
" Can you think of one illustrating your hero's tenderness of heart? " He replied, 
" Yes, numbers of them occur to me. This one will suit you. In the summer ot 
1 85 1, I was a typesetter in a newspaper office at Springfield, 111. I was eighteen 
years of age and six feet high. Lincoln took a great fancy to me and often 
invited me to take a walk with him after supper. The sedentary life of both 
made special exercise necessary. One beautiful moonlight night we were walk- 
ing on a country road, and we noticed just ahead of us six little pigs with 
their noses together. Lincoln said, ' Those little things are lost ; let us help 
them find their mother.' We stirred them up, and with grunt and sniff and 
snort, they ran down the road ; at last they found the hole in the fence and the 
mother in the field. Lincoln said, ' I never see a pig that I do not think of my first 
pet. When a boy six years old I went over to a neighboring farm. A litter of 
striped pigs had recently been born, and I was so crazy about them that they 
could not get me away from them. The man filled me with supreme delight by 
saying, 'Abe, you may have one of those pigs, if you can get him home.' ' I 
will attend to that,' I said. I had on a tow shirt reaching to my feet, which my 
mother had woven, fastened at the neck by a wooden button my father had 
made, and I made a fold in the garment, and in it, as a sack, I carried my pig 
home. I got an old bee-gum, a hollow log, put corn shucks and stalks and 
leaves in it for a bed, and tucked him away for the night. 

" ' He squealed for his mother nearly all night. In the morning I brought 
him corn meal, bran, bread, milk, everything I could think of, but he would 
not touch any of them ; he did not seem to have time or energy for anything 
but to squeal. At last mother said to me, 'Abe, take that pig back home, it 
will die if you keep it here.' What my mother said was always the truth and 
the law to me, and though it about broke my heart I took the pet back. The 
mother was so glad to see him and he so glad to see her. After she had 
given him his dinner, he looked so pretty I could not stand it. and I begged 
the man to let me take him back, and I put him in the tow sack as I had done 




"l MADE A FOLD IN THE GARMENT AND IN IT I CARRIED MY PIG" (l77) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 179 

before and carried him to our house. Mother protested and I cried, and she 
broke down and relented, and said I might try him one more day. He would 
not eat a thing I brought him, and mother sent me back with him again, and I 
carried him back and forth to his meals for two weeks, when we taught him to 
eat, and he was mine for good. That pig was my companion. I played with 
him, I taught him tricks. We used to play ' hide and go seek.' I can see his 
little face now peeping around the corner of the house to see whether I was 
coming after him. After a while he got too heavy for me to carry him around, 
and then he followed me everywhere — to the barn, the plowed ground, the 
woods. Many a day I have spent in the woods brushing the leaves away and 
helping him to find the acorns and nuts. Sometimes he would take a lazy 
spell and rub against my legs, and stop in front of me, and He down before 
me, and say in language which I understood, 'Abe, why don't you carry me like 
you used to do ? ' When he grew larger, I turned the tables on him and made 
him carry me, and he did it just as happily as I ever did the same service for 
him. Father fed him corn, piles of it, and how he did eat ! And he grew large, 
too large for his happiness and mine. There was talk about the house of the 
hog being fat enough to kill. At the table I heard father say he was going 
to kill the hog the next day. My heart got as heavy as lead. The next 
morning father had a barrel of water ready and was heating the stones that 
were to be thrown into it to make hot water for the scalding, and I slipped out 
and took my pet with me to the forest. When father found out what had hap- 
pened he yelled as loud as he could, ' You, Abe, fetch back that hog ! You 
Abe, you Abe, fetch back that hog ! ' The louder he called, the farther and 
faster we went, till we were out of hearing of the voice. We stayed in the 
woods till night. On returning, I was severely scolded. After a restless night, I 
arose early and went to get my pig for another day's hiding, but found that 
father had arisen before me and fastened my pet in the pen. I knew then all 
hope was gone. I did not eat any breakfast, but started for the woods. I had 
not gone far when I heard the pig squeal, and, knowing what it meant, I ran as 
fast as I could to get away from the sound. Being quite hungry, at noon I 
started for home. Reaching the edge of the clearing, I saw the hog, dressed, 
hanging from a pole near the house, and I began to blubber. I could not 
stand it, and went far back into the woods again, where I found some nuts that 
stayed my appetite till night, when I returned home. They never could get 
me to take a bite of the meat, neither tenderloin, nor rib, nor sausage, nor souse. 
And months after, when the cured ham came on the table, it made me sad and 
sick to even look at it. The next morning I went out into the yard, and saw 
the red place on the ground where the throat had been cut with the knife, 
and, taking a chip, I scraped the blood and the hair that had been scattered, 
into a pile, and burned it up. Then I found some soft dirt, which I carried in 
the folds of my tow shirt, and scattered over the ground to cover up every trace 



i8o THE SPEAKING OAK 

of the killing of my pet. The dirt did not do its work very well, for to this 
day, whenever I see a pig like the little fellows we have just met in the road, 
my heart goes back to that pet pig, and to the old home, and the dear ones there.' " 

After the captain had related this incident I thanked him, and suggested 
that the boys of to-day, with their toys and tools, and wheels and ponies, and 
carts, and everything else that money can buy or love suggest, do not get more 
genuine pleasure out of life than the simple child of the log cabin did out of 
his pet pig. I also suggested that the kindness which was a characteristic of 
Lincoln's life till the close, was not the laborious effort of a cold heart to seem 
warm, or a selfish man to appear generous ; it was not the result of years of rigid 
self-discipline; it was the spontaneous outflow of a stream from a perennial 
fountain of love. The beauty of the kindness was not veneer glued to the outside, 
it was the grain of the solid wood, or, better still, it was the bloom which the life 
of the tree produced. 

He could not help being tender, any more than the song birds about his 
cabin could keep from singing, or the sweetbrier his mother planted could 
keep from being fragrant. It is easy to see how a boy who was so tender to 
his first pet might grow to be the great man, who said in the hearing of the 
centuries, " With malice toward none, with charity for all." 

In the monument of virtues, brotherly kindness comes near to the top, and 
above it is the capstone of charity, which lifts the structure to such a height 
that it touches the white throne. 



A PRINCE CARRIES AN OLD WOMAN ACROSS A RIVER 



THERE was a young prince who was defrauded of his father's throne by 
another king. After a most careful education, he resolved to take the 
kingdom which belonged to him, and started upon his journey. He was 
beautiful in form and feature, his long flaxen hair falling about his 
shoulders. He had a spear in either hand and a leopard-skin mantle to protect him 
from the rain. The sandals, elegantly embroidered and fastened with gold braid, 
which he had on his feet had been worn by his father, and were especially prized by 
him. He came to a river badly swollen by the heavy rains and by the melting snow 
on Mount Olympus, and stood hesitating at its edge. While doing so, a little 
dried-up old woman, with singularly lustrous eyes and a peacock by her side, 
asked him whither he was going. He told her that he was going to claim a 
throne that had been wrongfully taken from him, but that he regretted deeply 
that the floods had made it about impossible for him to cross. She suggested 
that she also desired to cross the river, and begged that he would take her over 
on his back. He earnestly protested against the folly of such an undertaking, 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES i8i 

saying that the current would certainly sweep them down and destroy them. 
With a strange flash in her large brown eye, she told him that if he did not have 
charity enough for a poor old woman, and courage enough to stem the flood 
and take her to the other side, he was not the kind of stuff out of which kings 
were made, and that he had better give up his undertaking at once. Shamed 
by her remarks, he stooped down, asking her to get upon his back, which she 
did, throwing her arms tightly about his neck. The peacock flew up and lit 
upon her shoulder. Into the stream he went, cautiously feeling his way with his 
spear. Reaching the middle of the river, he had the misfortune to catch his 
foot between two rocks, and in his effort to extricate it he lost his sandal. This 
greatly distressed him, but the old woman told him that she was in a condition 
to know that the accident would be his best fortune ; that it assured her of his 
royal lineage and future success ; that the king whom he was on his way to 
dethrone would turn pale with fear when he saw one of his feet sandaled and 
the other bare. As he struggled with the rocks and with the volume of waters 
sweeping by, instead of being exhausted he gained strength at every step, and 
set her down safely on the other side and continued upon his journey. 

No man is fit to rule who is not willing to serve ; no person can ever arise 
to mastery in an earthly calling who has not served his way up to that mastery, 
and no one can maintain that mastery who does not continue the service. 
The lawyer who serves his clients best, the physician who gives himself up most 
completely to his patients, the teacher who lives for his scholars, the editor who 
devotes himself to the public, the merchant who most benefits his customers, 
the preacher who is the greatest minister to his congregation, the of^cer who 
is the greatest servant of the people is the greatest one. 

Service to the lowly is another sign of real royalty. The woman was right 
when she told the young prince that he was not fit to rule a kingdom unless he 
were willing to help a poor woman across a swollen river; that she did not 
know what kings were for, unless they were to help the weak and lowly. The 
old woman, who pretended to have divine knowledge, never dreamed how 
many centuries would have to roll by before the kings of the earth would learn 
that lesson. In these days the people are teaching the rulers this duty very 
rapidly, and those who pay no attention to it find their power limited or their 
crowns taken away from them. The most royal spirits in all the callings of 
life are those who most cheerfully serve the poorest and the lowliest children 
of earth. 

There is nothing that increases strength like bearing burdens. The prince 
who hesitated to carry the woman over the river because, feeling scarcely able 
to cross himself, he feared that both would be lost in the attempt, said that the 
moment he took her on his back he received a strength which he had never had 
in all his life before, which enabled him not only to carry her over, but also to 
make his own way across. There is a magic in the burdens that love bears 



i82 THE SPEAKING OAK 

which increases the vigor of the bearer. Carrying the weak and the poor and 
the humble across the swollen streams of Time will impart to us superhuman 
energy which will enable us not only to carry them, but also ourselves, more 
surely to the other side. And what we see in the material and moral realm 
reminds us of the great fact in the spiritual world, that the soul gains strength 
by carrying other souls, and saves itself in saving them. 



HENRY WARD BEECHER'S FONDNESS FOR NATURE 



KNOWING that Rev. Samuel Virgin, D.D., had been a warm personal 
friend of Henry Ward Beecher, I wrote him a letter, asking him if he 
would not relate to me an incident or two connected with the life of the 
great Brooklyn divine. I received an answer from him, at his summer 
home at Chelmsford, Mass., containing the following story : 

" The New York and Brooklyn Association of Congregational Ministers 
was for many years the annual guest of Capt. Tremper, both on his boats to 
Rondout and at his hotel at Phoenicia. The railroad, also, from Rondout to 
Stamford, was included in the provision made for our comfort and pleasure. 
This trip was made in connection with the summer opening of the Tremper 
House. Henry Ward Beecher was always one of the party — really, the chief 
guest. Friends and the country people came from far and near and lingered 
about the hotel, hoping to see him and hear him speak, and they were not 
disappointed. He taught them something, too, about apples, or soils, or the 
best way of viewing life, and they had enough to think about for a year. But 
the choicest companionship was with his fellow-guests, whom he loved because 
they loved him and trusted him. He was like a child on such occasions, and 
enjoyed everything with all his being. He used eyes, ears, brain and heart. 
His tongue was an important member, but he could be silent — so silent that 
no one would for a moment think of breaking the silence. When going up 
the river, as we passed from mist to sunlight, or there was some special beauty 
of nature, he fed upon it as upon delicious food. One morning we were taken 
to Margaretville for a trout breakfast in the woods. As the train climbed 
Pine Hill, Mr. Beecher took a seat on the lower step of one of the cars and soon 
was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scenery. His great eyes dilated, 
his soul was filled with a sense of God's glory, and as a seraph might gaze 
upon the splendors of the eternal throne he looked and looked and worshiped. 
Men saw him as they passed from car to car, but no one spoke to him. No 
one joined him. He who drew men to him by a resistless magnetism could 
hold them aloof as Moses did the multitudes when he went into the mount. 
What visions he had from that car-step he did not tell till in the heat of his 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 183 

wonderful speech on platform or pulpit they once more glowed before him, and 
then hearers were charmed by descriptions of scenes apparently imagined, but 
really the rehearsal of those morning views. He always loved the beauti- 
ful, and carried precious stones, unmounted, with him to admire them at his 
leisure. And there was not a cloud-form or shadow, nothing in earth or sky, 
that told of the beauty-loving nature of God that was not photographed on 
that sensitive spirit. And when, one morning, we were gathered in the parlors 
of the hotel for prayers, after he had seen the glory of the morning, one of the 
most wonderful prayers passed his lips that mortals in this world are ever 
privileged to hear. A strange sense of God in his creative power and glory 
and loving personal ministries entered every spirit and made the place hal- 
lowed ground. Men feel the thrill of that morning's devotion in their souls 
still." 



A MOTHER'S INFLUENCE 



#-r^ 



HE Duke of Kent, in walking about the grounds at Kensington one rainy 
afternoon got his feet wet, and coming into the palace, instead of chang- 
ing his boots and stockings, as he was advised to do, took his little babe 
from her mother's lap and petted and played with her as she laughed and 
crowed at him, till a chill came on and pneumonia speedily caused his death. The 
little fatherless babe was the Princess Victoria. Her mother, the Duchess of Kent, 
was a wise and good woman, and deserves great credit for the manner in which she 
prepared her daughter for her crown. She was a rigid disciplinarian. She taught 
her daughter old-fashioned German notions of industry, economy and study. She 
kept from her as long as she could, the fact that she was likely to be the 
Queen, because she wanted to make of her a simple-hearted, modest, worthy 
girl. She let her run and romp, and ride horseback, and enjoy the scenes of 
nature, but required the closest application during the hours of study. So the 
girl Queen came to her throne a simple, sincere child of nature, with a sane mind 
in a sound body, ready for her enormous responsibility. 

Next to her mother, her governess, the Baroness Lehzen, had the largest 
influence in preparing the Princess Victoria for her throne. She had so much 
common sense, had such splendid views of life, had such a spotless character, 
and such a living faith in God that she breathed herself into the spirit of the 
child with the omnipotence of love. Under the tuition of her mother and her 
governess she appeared a girl of eighteen with good health, a happy heart, a 
pure life; a knowledge of three languages, of history, of government, of every- 
day affairs ; with reverence for the Bible, intense love for her Saviour and an 
unfaltering faith in the Providence of God and in the future life, worthy to take 
the crown of the greatest empire in the world. Eternity alone can calculate the 



i84 THE SPEAKING OAK 

influence of a good mother on the destiny of her child. Christian mothers in 
the cottage or palace are training children of the King for lives of usefulness 
here and for crowns of glory hereafter. 

^ ^* ^ 

HUMILITY 



HE discovery of the electric telegraph was so widespread in its influence 
that the civilized nations vied with each other in their expressions of grat- 
itude to the inventor. He was loaded down with decorations and honors 
from almost every country of Europe ; Turkey gave him a decoration set 
in diamonds ; Prussia, Austria and other countries presented him with gold medals ; 
France made him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor ; Denmark gave him the cross 
of the Knight of Danneburg; Spain, the cross of Knight Commander of the 
Order of Isabella the Catholic ; ten of the countries of Europe united in raising 
a purse of $80,000, which was presented to Professor Morse as an expression 
of the feelings of admiration and gratitude which were v;ell-nigh universally 
entertained for him. 

An intimate friend of the great inventor writes : " He was the most 
simple, pure, unaffected, humble man whom I ever saw. When I say the 
most so, I mean just that, because I never knew any man who had attained 
so much honor among men and was not puflfed up at all. I was with him in 
Paris during the great exhibition of 1867, and often saw him under circumstances 
that would easily develop vanity in inferior men. Royal personages would 
send to know at what time it would be convenient for him to receive them, 
when they would call at his modest lodgings to pay him the tribute of their 
respect. But he appeared no more elated than by the expectation of a call 
from a friend. He did not afifect to undervalue such attentions nor to despise 
the honors that came from men. Esteeming them at their proper value, he 
had a just sense of the glory which his invention has necessarily procured 
for him and his country ; and he always gloried, as was becoming, in the use- 
fulness and happiness which his invention had added to the common stock en- 
joyed by the human race." 

A bronze figure of Professor Morse has been placed by his countrymen in 
Central Park, New York, but his real monument is in the countless instruments 
that click, and in the gratitude of the wide w^orld which receives their wonderful 
messages. 

Almost all of the really great characters of the world have been simple, 
unpretending, modest men, who remind us of the words of Scripture : " He that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted," and " Blessed are the meek, for they shall 
inherit the earth." 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 185 

A BEAUTIFUL CHILD OF THE NEW CENTURY 

HE twentieth century ushered in the birth of a glorious commonwealth. 
Australia is so far away that people do not realize that it has an area 
almost as large as the whole of Europe, and that the commonwealth 
which has just been formed is likely to play so important a part in shaping 
the civilization of the world. 

Before the beginning of this year, the colonies of which Australia and 
New Zealand are composed had each a government of its own, enjoying the 
large measure of liberty which Britain grants to some of her dependencies. 
But with the opening of the new century the commonwealths became a 
federation, with a central government, and possessing an accession of privileges 
which practically makes it independent. The people of Australia had a free 
hand in framing their constitution, and they made it so separate from the empire 
that now the only tie that binds it to Great Britain is fealty to the monarch 
and the acceptance of the Chief Executive, who is not elected, but appointed 
by the British Government. The legislative power is entirely in the hands of 
the new federation, and now, for the first time in her history, a law passed in 
Australia does not need the signature of the monarch to make it operative. 
The constitution is modeled after our own, with some differences. One of 
these is that the Federal Congress has control of the laws of marriage and 
divorce and also of labor legislation. Another is that Senators are not elected 
by the Legislatures, but by the direct vote of the people. The enormous public 
domain still unoccupied does not belong to the Federal government, but the 
Legislature of each State controls that portion which lies within its own borders. 
The Legislatures also control and manage the lines of railroads within their 
several provinces, but the postoffice, the telegraph and telephone service is 
under the control of the Federal Government. Each State sends six members 
to the Senate, and the members of the House of Representatives are elected 
on a basis of population. Cabinet ministers are chosen from members of the 
Federal Congress and must possess the confidence of the Congress ; otherwise 
they may be driven from their offices by a hostile vote. The proclamation of the 
constitution was made the occasion of general rejoicing. At Sydney, the capital 
city, the Governor was sworn in, and the people gave themselves up to a week 
of festivity. In other large cities there was a general holiday, the buildings were 
decorated for the day and illuminated at night. 

A notable feature of the celebration was its intense religious spirit. The 
new constitution expresses " humble and firm reliance upon the blessing of 
Almighty God." At the inaugural ceremonies, held in Centennial Park, Sydney, 
the Anglican Archbishop of Australia read a prayer which had been prepared 
by Lord Tennyson, Governor of South Australia and son of Alfred Tennyson, 
which was as follows : 



i86 THE SPEAKING OAK 

" O Lord God Almighty, high above all height, whose lifetime is eternity, 
we Thine unworthy servants give Thee most humble and hearty thanks for all 
Thy goodness and loving kindness. We glorify Thee in that Thou hast been 
pleased in Thy providence to unite Australia in bonds of brotherly love and 
concord, and in one commonwealth, under our most gracious sovereign lady, 
Queen Victoria. We beseech Thee, grant unto this union Thy grace and 
heavenly benediction, that a strong people may arise to hallow Thy name, 
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before Thee in reverence 
and righteousness of life. Furthermore, we pray Thee to make our empire 
always a faithful and fearless leader among the nations in all that is good ; and 
to bless our queen and those who are put in authority under her, more especially 
in this land. Eet Thy wisdom be their guide, strengthen them in uprightness, 
direct and rule their hearts, that they may govern according to Thy holy will; 
and vouchsafe that all things may be so ordered and settled upon the best and 
surest foundations that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and 
piety may be deepened and increased among us ; and that we Thy people may 
perpetually praise and magnify Thee from generation to generation. Blessed 
be Thy name forever and ever, through Jesus Christ our -Lord. Amen." 

It is to be hoped that our own nation will never so far forget God that 
he shall be compelled to turn to other peoples in far-off seas to accomplish 
with them the work he has in mind for us, but with unfaltering faith in him 
and obedience to his commandments, we may unite with all free peoples in 
spreading personal liberty and a knowledge of Jesus Christ to the ends of the 
earth. 

^m r^ Zf* 

THE RECENT INTERMENT OF THE BONES OF A KING 
KILLED A THOUSAND YEARS AGO 



N 



OT long ago there appeared in the newspapers the following message from 
London : 

" The remains of King Edmund the Martyr, the last king of the East 
Angles, who reigned from 855 to 870, have been returned to England, 
after being in charge of France more than seven hundred years. They reached 
Arundel in charge of Monsignor Del Val, Archbishop of Nicrea, Asia Minor, and 
were placed in the private chapel of the Duke of Norfolk, pending final burial in the 
shrine being prepared for their reception in the new Catholic Cathedral in West- 
minster. The body, after burial at Hoxne, was again buried at Bury St. 
Edmund's, whence is was carried oiT to France by Louis VII. Through the good 
offices and personal intervention of the Pope, the body is now returned to England." 
With appropriate ceremonies the remains were deposited in their resting 
place. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 187 

This event calls up a wonderful story. A hardy Dane by the name of 
Lothbroc, started out in his little boat on the German Ocean, to hunt among 
the islands that were so full of game. He was well equipped for his sport, having 
a trained hawk that could capture the birds flying in the air or swimming in the 
water, and a greyhound that could catch the animals on the ground. He 
ventured a little too far out, and a storm drove him farther and farther away till 
he found himself across the ocean on the English shore. Knowing that he was 
in a country hostile to his own, he concealed himself for some time in the forest, 
but being discovered, he was taken to Edmund, the king, who, being a kind- 
hearted man, and being favorably impressed with the appearance and manner 
of the stranger, not only gave him his liberty but made him his friend. The 
trained falcon, the greyhound and the skill of the stranger in the chase added 
greatly to the king's sport. Beorn, the chief huntsman of the king, became 
very envious of Lothbroc, and finding the opportunity one day in the woods, he 
slew him and hid his body. The faithful greyhound stayed by the remains of 
his master until he was compelled by hunger to leave for a little time and then 
returned to his vigil. His strange actions led to the discovery of the crime, 
which was easily traced to Beorn, who, as a punishment, was sent out in the 
same boat that had brought Lothbroc, to drift out into the great sea and perish 
there. By chance the boat drifted on the shores of Denmark. The sons of 
Lothbroc, believing that he had slain their father and taken his boat, were about 
to kill him, when he told them that King Edmund had done the bloody deed. 
The sons burned with rage, and being influential, they stirred up the people of 
Denmark to set out on an expedition of revenge. A large fleet crossed the 
ocean and invaded the kingdom. The innocent king made almost no resistance, 
was captured and carried before Hinquor, the captain of the Danes. The king 
was stripped and scourged, and then his body was filled with arrows — so full 
that not another one could find a place in his fiesh. His agony was intolerable, 
but all the while he was being tortured he was offering prayer to God and 
praises to Christ for his sustaining power. When death came they cut his 
head from his body and threw it in a lonely place, determined that his friends 
should not have it for burial. As the invaders left the land, the people took 
the body of their king and his head, which they also found, and gave him an 
honored burial. 

This story may be all history or all myth, or part history and part myth. 
There is an incident or two connected with it which is certainly myth — as where 
the head of the king, by speaking, leads to its discovery; or where the wolf 
guards it and holds it in its paws until it is found, and where the same wolf 
joins the funeral procession and follows the royal body to its grave ; and where 
the head seeks the body and fastens itself upon it in its place again so perfectly 
that only a purple scar is seen. Whatever the story be, it is full of human 
nature and divine grace. All the trouble came from envy. Lothl^roc, with his 



i88 THE SPEAKING OAK 

hawk and hound, was a better hunter than Beorn, and this fact rankled in the 
heart of the latter, who hatched and executed his plot of murder. The jealousy 
of this hunter threw two nations into conflict and robbed the English throne of 
a benign ruler. Envy and jealousy have marshaled many armies, and set sail 
fleets, and thrown nations together in deadly combat, and taken kings from 
their thrones. The first murderer did his bloody deed because his brother 
ofTered a more acceptable sacrifice than he, and the same demon of envy has been 
doing its dreadful work ever since. 

From the dark background of human nature in this foul murder, we see 
the beautiful picture of divine grace in the lovely character of Edmund, the king. 
How cruel for envy, after having murdered its rival, to betray to the death 
its friend and benefactor! And yet Absolute Innocence was betrayed and 
Infinite Love was tortured to death. The tender-hearted, benign King Edmund 
was as brave in his death as he was beautiful in his life. No fate could have 
been more unjust, and no agony more severe ; and yet he had such a sense 
of the Divine presence, such a fullness of the Saviour's love, that he was not 
only resigned to his fate, but was inexpressibly happy in his translation to heaven. 

Whatever of truth or superstition there may be about the story of Edmund 
the Martyr, whatever of truth or superstition there may be about the identifica- 
tion of his remains, after the lapse of so many centuries, the action of the 
Catholics of England in the preservation of the supposed dust of the martyr is 
a just tribute to tenderness of affection, holiness of character and to sublime 
heroism in death. 

^« ^• ^• 

LEE'S SIMPLE FAITH IN CHRIST 



ENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, during the Civil War, on being informed 
that the chaplains were praying especially for him, was greatly overcome 
by the fact and, weeping, said : *' I sincerely thank you for that ; I can 
only say that I am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and that I 
need all the prayers that you can offer for me." 

In these times, when some are relying upon ecclesiastical ordinances, some 
upon a strong will, and others upon a correct life, it is well to remember the 
greatest fact in this world — that faith in Christ, and Christ alone, is the only 
hope of salvation for the soul. The other great fact which General Lee pathet- 
ically expressed, and which is worthy of our consideration, is that we need the 
prayers of our fellow men, as well as the Divine Spirit, in the pursuit of a Chris- 
tian life. No person was every brought into the Kingdom of God, or kept 
faithful in the divine life, except by the help of the prayer and the faith of some 
one else ; and he never will be. There was enough genuinely true theology in Gen- 
eral Lee's simple remark to fill a library with volumes and the world with saints. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 189 

THE DANGER OF A CARELESS EXPRESSION 



D 



■^URING a conversation between Benjamin Franklin and his father, the 
former said : " Father, I know that many people here in Boston think I 
never had any religion, or that if I had I have apostatized from it." " God 
forbid! But whence, my son, could these prejudices have arisen?" 
" Why, father, I have for some time past discovered that there is no effect without 
a cause. These prejudices have been the effect of my youthful errors. You re- 
member, father, the old story of the pork, don't you ?" " No, child, what is it, for 
I have forgotten." " I thought so, father ; I thought you had been so good as 
to forget it. But I have not, and never shall, forget it." " What is it, Ben ? " 
" Why, father, when our pork, one fall, lay salted and ready for the barrel, I 
begged you to say grace over it all at once, adding that it would do as well 
and save a great deal of time." " Pshaw, Ben ! such a trifle as that, and in a 
child, too, cannot be remembered against you now." *"' Yes, father, I am afraid 
it is. All are not so forgetful of my errors as you. It was at the time inserted in 
the Boston Nezvs Letter, and is now recollected to the discredit of my religion." 

A careless expression is a dangerous thing. It often works incalculable 
damage, especially as the gossip and scandalmonger are so ready to misin- 
terpret, misjudge the motive or misrepresent. The careless remark about the 
blessing upon the pork did great damage to Franklin's religious reputataion, for 
many thought him to be irreverent and sceptical, when, in reality, he was a man 
of prayer, of faith, of love, of hope, and, more than most men, lived his religion 
in acts of practical kindness to his fellow men. His life was the expression of 
an adage of which he was the author — " Work as if you were to live a hundred 
years ; pray as if you were to die to-morrow." 



CHRIST WILL FIGHT OUR BATTLES FOR US 



THERE is an old legend of the Rhine which relates that a gallant and pious 
knight was riding to a tournament where, for the first time, he was to 
meet in the lists champions whose strength and courage he had never 
tried. He became tormented with the thought that, among those who 
should measure weapons with him were many whose bodily energy and skill was 
greater than his, and who, therefore, would prevent him from carrying himself 
with honor, and would perhaps overthrow him and expose him to the mockery of 
the spectators. Occupied with these unpleasant reflections, he came suddenly upon 
an altar surmounted by a figure of the Virgin Mary. Descending from his horse, 
he flung himself at the base of the altar, urgently beseeching the Holy Mother to 
assist him in the approaching struggle. In the fervency of his prayer he lost his 



I90 THE SPEAKING OAK 

senses ; a convulsive shudder ran through his frame, and long he lay there as in 
a dream. But the Virgin had heard his prayer, and lo ! she descended from the 
altar, loosened the knightly helmet, armor and sw^ord, and having equipped herself 
therewith, mounted his steed and rode av^ay. Anon she returned, and, unper- 
ceived as before, armed the knight in his own v^eapons and took her place upon the 
altar. Then the suppliant awoke, rode ofif to the place of jousting, where he found 
himself proclaimed the victor of the champions. A grander truth than the writer 
of this mediaeval myth intended to illustrate is concealed herein. Not the Virgin, 
but the Virgin's Son, out of whose mouth John saw proceeding a two-edged 
sword, will fight our battles for us. 



LINCOLN NOMINATES HIMSELF FOR THE PRESIDENCY 



HE late David Davis, one of the greatest men Illinois ever produced, lived 
at Bloomington, in the central part of the State, in the finest home in the 
city. The mansion was large and of comely architecture and the grounds 
ample and beautiful. 
I frequently called on the judge, the oftener because he and Lincoln had been 
intimate friends, and I knew that everything he said about the lamented Pres- 
ident was authentic. Seated in his library one evening, I said, '' Judge Davis, 
the people generally think that you had more to do in securing the nomination 
of Lincoln for the Presidency the first term than any other one." He said, 
" It may not be immodest in me to say I did have much to do in bringing 
about his nomination." I said, " Tell me something about it." He continued, 
" You know I was Judge of this circuit and Lincoln practiced law in my court. 
He was so able and jolly and kind in spirit that I grew to love him very much, 
and my regard was reciprocated. He used to come over from Springfield and 
ride with me around the circuit behind my old claybank horse. We had the 
best times, so many funny things occurred." He then related several incidents 
that were side-splitting with their humor. I said, " Judge, do not forget to tell 
me about the nomination." He answered, " I will not. I was introducing the 
subject by showing you how closely we were bound to each other by the prac- 
tice of our profession. You will be surprised to hear that the first time I ever 
heard the name of Lincoln used In connection with the Presidency was by the 
lips of Lincoln himself. Lincoln, Leonard Swett, Jesse D. Fell, one or two 
others and I, felt the nomination ought to come to the West. And one day 
we had a meeting to agree upon a man that we would support. One name 
after another was mentioned, and their strong and weak points considered. At 
last Lincoln spoke up and said, ' Why don't you run me ? I can be nominated, 
I can be elected, and I can run the government.' We all looked at him and 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 191 

saw that he was not joking. That was the first time I ever knew of his name 
having been suggested for the office by pen or tongue. The meeting adjourned 
without any action. But the more we thought of Lincoln's proposition to run 
himself the better we liked it. Lincoln's immortal career began with that little 
circle and with his own imperial will. We set ourselves to work to lay the 
wisest possible plans, and to execute them with the greatest vigor. Each one, 
including the prospective candidate, was given his specific task to perform. We 
captured the McLean County Convention, and the Illinois State Convention. 
We had greater difficulty in winning the National Convention at Chicago. We 
put up a desperate fight and won. One thing that helped us to take the Conven- 
tion away from Mr. Seward, was the fact that years before he had said some 
unkind things about the Masonic fraternity, and I got hold of them, had them 
printed in circular form, and just at the critical moment I had them scattered 
among the delegates. They caused a stampede of his forces and made it the 
easier to secure the nomination for our candidate." I said, " Judge Davis, I 
am not sorry you have told me that Lincoln first suggested himself for the 
Presidency and wrought systematically to secure it. You have not broken our 
idol with your hammer of hard fact. We love him the more that we find him 
so human, that we see that consciousness of power not inconsistent with his 
natural humility. Besides, I more than suspect that God spoke to him, telling 
him that he desired him to be the leader of the nation in its time of peril." Mr. 
Davis answered, " From what I often heard him say he considered himself 
divinely appointed as a leader in the presevation of the Union." The old 
fashioned clock struck ten, and I bade the judge good-night. 



AN AFTERNOON IN A FREE LIBRARY 

|NE Saturday afternoon, I visited the Cooper Union Library and Reading 
I Room in New York. After having read for an hour or two, I sat 
J thinking about the value of such an institution, and of the wisdom and 
love of the man who founded it. I knew he built it largely for the benefit 
of the poor mechanics and working people, and I wondered how nearly his idea was 
being carried out. There were between sixty and seventy men present in the room, 
and I concluded to find out, if possible, their occupation. Only three of the num- 
ber declined to answer my question. They may have been modest ; they may have 
had an occupation of which they were ashamed, or they may have thought that it 
was none of my business ; but only three declined to give the information desired. 
The rest answered in the following order: Bookkeeper, groomsman, wood- 
sawyer, engraver on jewelry, clerk, typewriter, compositor, gas collector, archi- 
tect, baker, stone grinder, house painter, teacher, canvassing agent, dealer in 



192 THE SPEAKING OAK 

rags, seller of smoking- articles on the street, clothing cutter, clerk, sign painter, 
student in medical college, longshoreman, machinist, candymaker, book can- 
vasser, coatmaker, tailor, baker, clerk, chartered accountant, marine engineer, 
electrician, oyster-opener, student with law in view, fish salesman, plumber, 
waiter in restaurant, tailor, machinist, job press feeder, wiremaker, assistant 
engineer on ship, medical student, bookkeeper, laborer, carpenter, carpenter, 
canvasser, journalist, head waiter in hotel, attorney-at-law, plaiter of skirts, 
cutter of clothing, architect, law clerk, broker, waiter in hotel, editor. 

The result of the inquiry revealed the fact that, with the exception of a 
professional man here and there, all were mechanics, day laborers and poor 
employees. It was a half-holiday, and these hard-working men had seized upon 
it for their intellectual and moral instruction. It spoke well for the men, and 
for the wisdom of the poor struggling mechanic who had founded the institution 
and made such instruction possible. 

Peter Cooper learned, in his provision for the mental and moral wants 
of the struggling poor, that there is a higher accumulation than that of material 
wealth ; the millions of dollars which he saved were as nothing to the millions 
of hearts which he made his own by his gifts to the poor and struggling common 
people. 

Like so many inventors and benefactors, Peter Cooper thought that piety 
should be the chief aim in life. In the corner-stone of Cooper Union, laid in 
1854, was a scroll with these words : " The great object I desire to accomplish 
by the erection of this institution is to open the avenues of scientific knowledge 
to the youth of our city and country, and so unfold the volume of nature that the 
young may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its blessings, and learn to love the 
Author from whom cometh every good and perfect gift." The student of science 
has only a partial education who stops at a knowledge of material facts or of their 
relation to each other, and does not find the Great First Cause, who is Infinite 
Love. 



HE SETS THE PRISONER FREE 

HEN noble John Howard became interested in the alleviation of the dis- 
tress which he saw everywhere prevailing in the prisons of England, he 
undertook to appreciate the situation by placing himself in the position of 
the inmates of these places of punishment. In one jail he found a cell so 
narrow and filthy, that the poor wretch who occupied it begged as a special mercy 
that he might be hanged. John Howard shut himself up in that cell, and endured 
its darkness and foulness till nature could bear the pestilential confinement no 
longer. Then he went out to rouse England to a sense of the iniquities she was 
permitting, and to stir the world with a tender solicitude for unfortunate and de- 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 193 

praved humanity. Thus did Christ place himself in the prison-house of the flesh, 
endure the shame of human life and labor to elevate mankind from degradation to 
dignity. And he has moved the heart of the world as no other one has done in 
behalf of the outcast elements of society. 



TAKING AIM 



GOING from the little village of Lawrenceburg, to the capital city, Indian- 
apolis, young Henry Ward Beecher found the intellectual demands upon 
him greatly increased, and he set himself studiously to work to meet them. 
He did not allow his evangelical zeal to abate, but preached with fervor 
and with fire. He told how he first learned to make a real sermon ; he said : "When 
I had lived at Indianapolis the first year, I said, ' There was a reason why, when the 
apostles preached, they succeeded, and I will find it out if it is to be found out.' 
I took every single instance in the record where I could find one of their sermons 
and analyzed it, and asked myself, ' What were the circumstances ? Who were 
the people ? What did he do ? ' and I studied the sermons until I got this idea — 
that the apostles were accustomed first to feel for a ground on which the people 
and they stood together, a common ground where they could meet. Then they 
stored up a large lumiber of the particulars of knowledge that belonged to every- 
body, and when they had got that knowledge which everybody would admit 
placed in a proper form before the minds of the people, then they brought it to 
bear upon them with all their excited heart and feeling. That was the first 
definite idea of taking aim that I had in my mind. ' Now,' said I, ' I will make 
a sermon so.' I remember it just as well as if it were yesterday. First, I 
sketched out the things we all know, and in that way I went on with my ' you 
all knows ' until I had about forty of them. When I had got through that I 
turned round and brought it to bear upon them with all my might; and there 
were seventeen men awakened under that sermon. I never felt so triumphant 
in my life. I cried all the way home. I said to myself, ' Now I know how to 
preach.' I could not make another sermon for a month that was good for any- 
thing. I had used all my powder and shot on that one. But for the first time in 
my life I had got the idea of taking aim." 

True apostolic succession consists in the belief of those principles, the enter- 
tainment of those sentiments, the enforcement of those precepts which inspired 
the holy apostles in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Apostolic 
preaching is followed by the conviction and conversion of souls. 

In any undertaking in life there must be good aim taken before the gun 
is fired, or there will be a miss. This is peculiarly so in the preaching of the 
Gospel. There will be no good done by accident or by any haphazard work, I 






194 THE SPEAKING OAK 

have often fired at a whole flock of birds as they arose, but usually there was room 
enough between the birds to let the shot go through. It was only when I 
fastened my eye on a single bird, and held it there until I pulled the trigger, 
that I could have any success. In the preaching of a sermon, in the teaching of 
a Bible class, in any church work, in any earthly endeavor, the eye must be held 
upon the single bird if any game would be brought down. It is all-important for 
people in the secular and spiritual world to learn, like the young minister in 
Indiana did, how to take aim and fire. 



EMPEROR WILLIAM'S MESSAGE TO THE Y. M. C. A. 

UNE 13, 1901, was a memorable day in the history of the Young Men's 
Christian Association. It was the Jubilee Day of the International Jubi- 
lee Convention of the Y. M. C. A., held in Boston. The meeting at 
Mechanics' Hall was presided over by James Stokes, and formal ad- 
dresses were made by Cephas Brainerd, President Faunce of Brown University, 
and Rev. F. C. Clark. The delegates from foreign lands were received with great 
cordiality and enthusiasm, 'In their native costumes they presented quite a pictur- 
esque appearance. One of the most conspicuous figures was Father Nicholas W. 
Vassilief, a delegate from Russia, gowned in the deep crimson silk of his 
office, a silver chain and crucifix about his neck, which gave emphasis to 
his sturdy figure and handsome face. In the afternoon. Governor Crane 
received the delegates in the State House ; an immense meeting was held in 
Faneuil Hall, which was addressed by Lieut. Governor Bates, Mayor Hart 
and others ; a memorial tablet was unveiled in the Old South Meeting House, 
where, fifty years before to the day, the first Young Men's Christian Association 
had been organized. 

But the notable feature of this day of jubilee was the receipt of a message 
from the German Ambassador at Washington, transmitting a telegram from 
Emperor William, which read as follows : 

" I ask you to transmit to the brotherhood of Young Men's Christian 
Associations of America, assembled for the Jubilee Convention, my hearty con- 
gratulations. With pride the brotherhood may look back on its past life, which 
promises further to flourish and increase. May this expectation be fulfilled 
in a rich measure. With satisfaction I see that the German Associations, active 
in the same endeavor, take part fraternally in this solemn gathering. May the 
American Associations also in the future train for their great Fatherland citizens 
who are sound in body and soul, and of earnest convictions of life, standing on 
the only unmovable foundation of the name of Christ, whose name is above 
every name. (Signed) WILHELM, I. R. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 195 

The message produced a profound impression upon the Convention, which 
returned a fitting answer, which closed with the following words : 

" May our alliance, founded on Christ, forever bind the kindly sentiments 
which now exist between the two lands." 

In these days, when there is such a consolidation of industrial enterprises 
upon the part of capital and labor, there seems to be in the religious world a 
spirit of concentration and unification, as illustrated in the great Missionary 
Convention held in New York, and the International Convention of the Young 
Men's Christian Association held in Boston. The Missionary Society and the 
Y. M. C. A. have not only been the strong arms of the Church in rescuing 
souls from spiritual death, but they have been the efficient ones in enfolding the 
members of the various denominations into the bosom of a common Master, 
into Christian unity. 

V ^* ^* 

HYPOCRISY 



KING LEAR, having become old, and tired of his public duties, resolved to 
divide his kingdom amongst his children and retire to private life. Before 
making the division, he asked for a declaration of his children's love. The 
first daughter, Goneril, was profuse in the expression of her affection 
for her father, in the following words : 

" Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter, 
Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty ; 
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare. 
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor ; 
As much as child e'er loved, or father found, 
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable 
Beyond all manner of so much I love you." 
The second daughter, Regan, undertook to outdo her sister in her profes- 
sion of love for the king, as she said : 

" I am made of that self-metal as my sister. 
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart 
I find she names my very deed of love : 
Only she comes too short, — that I profess 
Myself an enemy to all other joys. 
Which the most precious square of sense possesses; 
And find, I am alone felicitate 
In your dear highness' love." 
Following the declarations of affection, the king gave to each of these 
daughters a third of his realm, retaining the last third for his favorite daughter, 



196 THE SPEAKING OAK 

Cordelia. Her simple profession of love was as true and loyal as could 
have been desired or required, yet because it was not so extravagant in its 
language, or enthusiastic in its expression, King Lear became offended, and dis- 
inherited her in the following language : 

" Let it be so : — thy truth, then, be thy dower : 
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun ; 
The mysteries of Hecate and the night ; 
By all the operations of the orbs 
From whom we do exist, and cease to be. 
Here I disclaim all my paternal care. 
Propinquity, and property of blood. 
And as a stranger to my heart and me 
Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous Scythian, 
Or he that makes his generation messes 
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom 
Be as well neighbor'd, pitied and relieved 
As thou, my sometime daughter." 

Soon after the division of the kingdom, Goneril and Regan proved how 
false a heart can be which is fair in its profession of love. By their conduct 
they illustrated the fact that their profuse expressions of affection were only to 
tickle the ear and flatter the heart of their father and make more secure their 
division of the realm. And Cordelia proved how true a heart can be that is 
simple and modest in its avowal of love. The king learned, too late, his fatal 
mistake in accepting an empty expression of love for love itself, and in rejecting 
real love for its false profession. Lear was not the last king, or man, or father, 
who was deceived by extravagant professions of affection. 

There were two daughters who professed without possessing, to one pos- 
sessing, filial affection, and, while we would scarcely be pessimistic enough to 
claim that the same ratio of two to one exists now, we must admit that there 
are vast numbers who make extravagant professions of feelings which they do 
not possess, and which are meant to, and do, deceive their fellow men. There 
are some who are profuse in their expressions of affection or loyalty to some 
person or enterprise, who mean what they say at the time, whose hearts are 
so shallow that it seems impossible for them to be constant. It is bad enough 
for society to be burdened and deceived with the false promises of such. There 
are others who profess a love that they do not have, for what advantage there 
is in it for them. They fawn on wealth, they flatter power, they practice 
every conceivable kind of hypocrisy to secure dollars and influence for them- 
selves : their honeyed lies are multiplied at will to gain some personal advantage ; 
their imagination is searched for adjectives to express their feelings of loyalty, 
that they may get the lion's share of the king's estate. Hypocrisy reaches 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 197 

its climax of vileness in children who make a false profession of love for their 
parents, only that they may secure their possessions. We are glad to believe 
that there are few of such hypocrites ; we are sorry to say there are some, and 
they deserve the contempt of this world and the penalties of the next. 

All other hypocrisies pale into insignificance before that of professing a 
love for the King Eternal which is not possessed. It is bad enough when 
these false declarations come from a careless lip or a shallow heart, but in- 
finitely worse when they have a selfish motive behind them. What man is more 
contemptible in the sight of earth or heaven than the one who makes a public 
profession of Christianity for the advantage it will bring to him in his business, 
profession or calling ; than the one who makes a loud declaration of loyalty 
to the Great King, that he may receive the lion's share in the division of his 
material realm? God and humanity, in the building up of the family, the 
church and the state, have to rely upon the Cordelias — the modest, humble, 
sincere ones, who possess rather than falsely profess their love. 



A NOBLE AND AN IGNOBLE COURTSHIP 



THE constrast between the dutiful and undutiful daughter in King Lear is 
not more marked than that between the true and false lovers of Cordelia. 
She had been disinherited by her father, the king, and he was in the act of 
giving her in marriage to one of two suitors — the Duke of Burgundy and 
the King of France. He turns to the first and says: 

" My lord of Burgundy, 
We first address toward you, who with this king, 
Hath rivall'd for our daughter : what, in the least, 
Will you require in present dower with her. 
Or cease your quest of love? Sir, there she stands; 
If aught within that little seeming substance. 
Or all of it with our displeasure pieced, 
And nothing more, may fitly like your grace. 
She's there, and she is yours." 

As the duke hesitates and does not answer, Lear continues : 

" Will you, with those infirmities she owes. 
Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate, 
Dower'd with our curse and stranger'd with our oath. 
Take her or leave her ? " 

The suitor then declines, and the father says : 



198 THE SPEAKING OAK 

" Then leave her, sir ; for by the power that made me, 
I tell you all her wealth." 

Turning to the King of France, he poured a torrent of abuse upon his 
daughter, telling him she was unworthy of him and expecting that, like the 
Duke of Burgundy, he would reject her. The king asked the enraged father 
what crime the daughter had committed to thus excite his anger, and when 
he learned that her sole offense had been a modest, instead of a profusive, ex- 
pression of the love she bore him, he said : 

" Fairest Cordelia, thou art most rich, being poor ; 
Most choice, forsaken ; and most lov'd, despised ! 
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon : 
Be it lawful, I take up what's cast away. 
Gods ! Gods ! 'tis strange that from their cold'st neglect 
My love should kindle to inflam'd respect. — 
Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance, 
Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France : 
Not all the dukes of waterish Burgundy 
Can buy this unpriz'd precious maid of me. 
Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind ; 
Thou losest here, a better where to find." 

The King of France loved her when she was rich and one of the heirs 
of the throne, and when her wealth and position and power were lost he loved 
her still. The Duke of Burgundy loved her when she was the favorite daughter 
of the king, but when she was disinherited and penniless his affection for her 
vanished. The king loved her for what she was, the duke for what she had. 
How many have been the mistakes and miseries of those who have contracted 
matrimonial alliances upon an estimate of cash, instead of character, in the 
search of means instead of manhood, for wealth instead of womanhood ! 
Wealth, properly employed, may give greater opportunity for reading, study, 
travel and the practices of the finer arts, or, if improperly employed, it may 
result in indolence, effeminacy, or vice. Poverty may depress or degrade, or 
encourage self-dependence and supremacy. Hence it is unsafe to pay much 
attention to the accidents and incidents of life in the selection of a husband or 
wife. Whether there be wealth or poverty, exalted position or humble station, 
it is manhood and womanhood which tell. What miseries and disasters have 
followed in the footsteps of the royal personages who have imitated the Duke 
of Burgundy in wedding wealth, rank and power, in the place of manhood and 
womanhood! The Dukes of Burgundy have found their way to our shores 
in pretty good numbers ; there is now and then a King of France who weds 
an American beauty for love, but there seems to be a greater number of noble- 
men who are in search of the daughters of American millionaries for the money 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 199 

which they have. And some of the daughters of the rich are beguiled into 
marrying a title with the shell of a man thrown in, and the money-bags and 
titles are fastened together, with no hearts between them. The man has gotten 
the gold, the woman the coat of arms ; but love, manhood and womanhood 
have been left out of the question. 

While there are some sordid characters who imitate the duke, we believe 
the majority of the people of this country have the spirit of the king, in putting 
a just estimate on ability and character and in making their life plans accord- 
ingly ; in considering wealth, station and all the other accidents of life as of 
secondary — as of trifling importance when compared with real manhood and 
womanhood. No earthly circumstance, however favorable, can add to the value 
of their Cordelia; no misfortune, however great, can take away from her any 
of her charms. 



THE SPIRIT THAT DISARMED THE BOXERS 



THE burning of a chapel on Hata-gate street, Pekin, June 13, 1900, was the 
signal for the destruction of all the mission and other foreign buildings in 
the city. The Methodist Mission was the best defended, and into it most 
of the missionaries of all denominations flocked for safety. Captain Hall, 
with a company of American marines, was sent to defend it. The Asbury Church, 
the finest Protestant church edifice in China, was turned into a fort. Some of the 
marines stood guard upon its roof. Their forms in the night looked to the 
natives almost like spirits against the sky ; and the Chinese said that a super- 
human being had come from America and lighted upon the dome and rendered 
futile the divine charms of the Boxers. 

America's God did preside over his imprisoned children and disarm the 
Satanic power of the Boxers. 



THE WOMAN FROM GRIMESVILLE 



W" HILE President McKinley was lying so dangerously wounded in Buffalo, 
the police and soldiers were forced to be rather strict with pedestrians at 
West Ferry street and Delaware avenue, the corner nearest the Milburn 
house. Down at Highland avenue, a block way, was the first rope bar- 
rier. It was there that a sweet-faced woman of sixty or seventy was stopped by 
the policeman. She carried a bunch of old-fashioned garden posies, tied with a 
faded pink ribbon. " You can't go through lady," said the ofiticer, stepping in 
front of her. The old lady stepped back trembling, and the tears began to flow, as 



200 THE SPEAKING OAK 

she said : " Will you be so kind as to give these to Mrs. McKinley ? They're 
from my own yard, and I've walked clear in from out near Grimesville to give 
them to her with my love, and tell her that we are all praying out at Grimesville 
that her husband will get well." It was said at the Milburn house that, while 
there were bouquets made of huge clusters of American Beauty roses, here and 
there about the room, the bunch of old-fashioned posies from the woman at 
Grimesville, who prayed for the President, had the place of honor on the 
dresser. 

The plain, old woman with the old-fashioned flowers, is a fair expression 
of the universal sympathy of the common people of this country, and of the 
civilized world for Mrs. McKinley, as well as for her husband, and the afflicted 
nation of which he was the head. Mrs. McKinley, though a confirmed invalid, 
was brought into public notice and favor, because the President was so devoted 
to her, and nursed her so tenderly. It was perfectly natural for this plain 
woman, who, no doubt, had known what sorrow was herself, by her message 
and offering to voice the sympathy of American womanhood. It was right for 
the old-fashioned flowers to have the chief place on the dresser, for a woman's 
sympathy had gotten into their colors to enrich their beauty, and into their 
odors as an incense of love. 

When our two other Presidents were shot down by the assassin's bullet, 
Queen Victoria sent special messages of condolence to their wives, and the 
Christian sympathy and prayers of the ruler of a great empire, and those of the 
woman from Grimesville were exactly the same, and are as beautiful flowers as 
have been brought from the field of heaven to bloom in the garden of earth. 

The woman not only brought her sympathy and flowers, but the promise 
of her prayers. She knew that the sympathy of her poor heart, with the best 
flowers she could find to emphasize it, would be so futile ! But she did know 
that God's Holy Spirit could comfort her, and that the consolations of the 
spirit could be secured by prayer. 



LOVE FOR ANIMALS 



SL 



UEEN VICTORIA was very fond of the lower animals — of horses, cattle 
and dogs, and had her pets among them. Prince Albert used to go to his 
model farm every day to look at the cows he admired so much. When he 
died the Queen used to go to look at the cows every day, thinking that 
they would miss their master and might be glad to see her in his stead. She had an 
especial fondness for dogs. On the day of her coronation in Westminster Abbey, 
after several hours of pomp and ceremony and physical and mental strain, she 
drove to the palace, where her heart was lightened by the barking of her pet spaniel, 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 201 

that greeted her so histily on her return. She made all haste to take off her crown 
and jewels and royal apparel, and lay down the sceptre and give her dear Dash 
a bath. Her practical education had taught her that dogs had to be bathed as 
well as queens to be crowned, and her young spirit was equally at home with 
either. In after years, at Balmoral, the Queen writes : " My favorite collie, 
Noble, is always down-stairs when we take our meals. He lies upon a couch and 
does not leave it unless invited to do so. He will hold a piece of cake in his 
mouth and not eat it till we give him the permission. He is the most * biddable * 
dog I ever saw — so affectionate and kind ; if he thinks we are not pleased with 
him, he will put out his paws and beg in such an affectionate way." Victoria 
employed almost her dying breath in calling for her pet dog. She loved royalty, 
she loved the common people, she loved the poor, she loved the lower 
animals. 

The people who, in search for a king, selected a man whom the lower 
animals loved because they thought he would be merciful to them, had more 
than a grain of truth in their calculation. If the dumb brutes of Britain could 
have spoken, they would have said, " Long live the Queen." The ideal queen 
was the one who could carry a crown with a level head and pet the horses that 
drew her carriage or the dog that followed her footsteps. Any life will be full 
of power where the heart is full of love. 



BENJAMIN HARRISON'S INDUSTRY 



G" ENERAL HARRISON'S evenly balanced and well-trained mind was 
driven to usefulness and eminence by the most tireless industry. He was 
always an enormous worker. His father was poor ; he married early, and 
the fight for bread began at the start and continued to some extent till 
after the war. He almost killed himself trying to earn and save a home to shelter 
his family. Sir Walter Scott, whose continuous hours of labor, as well as his 
genius, made him the most popular writer of his day, was Mr. Harrison's favorite 
author; when a boy on the farm he read eagerly all of Scott's romances. The 
great poet wrote to his son at school : " I cannot too much impress upon your 
mind that labor is the condition which God has imposed on us in every station 
in life. There is nothing worth having that can be had without it. As for 
knowledge, it can no more be planted in the human mind without labor than 
a field of wheat can be produced without the previous use of the plow. In 
youth our steps are light and our minds are docile, and knowledge is easily 
laid up ; but if we neglect our spring, our summer will be useless and con- 
temptible, our harvest will be chaff, and the winter of old age unrespected and 
desolate." These and similar sentiments from this author appealed to the 



202 THE SPEAKING OAK 

industrious instincts of the bo}^ and acted as an inspiration to the highest 
achievement. When he retired from the Presidency he had ample means to 
support him without work, but the habit of industry, his consciousness of 
physical and mental power and his desire to do his duty, led him back into 
his old profession and into as hard work as he had ever done in his life. He 
spent a wdiole year on one case, examining twenty volumes of evidence and 
writing a brief which filled two volumes of eight hundred pages, and receiving 
as a fee the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. Good blood is important, 
a liberal education is valuable, but it is the genius of hard work that tells, after all. 



SCATTERING AND INCREASING 



THE husbandman would starve who did not reserve some seed for sowing. 
He must throw it away in order to get more. The seed-corn must be the 
best, and there must be an abundance of it. Poverty will come in at the 
front door unless the granary at the back provides bountifully for the 
fields. One must sow if he would reap, and he must sow bountifully if he would 
reap bountifully. The merchant who hoards all his receipts will come to want. 
He must re-invest a large part of them or he will soon have no customers. If he 
scatters a good deal in advertisements he gets a rich return ; if he scatters more in 
"bargains" — and the commercial world is full of "bargains" — he will not do amiss ; 
and if he scatters more in gifts to his neighborhood — in promoting public im- 
provements, and in winning the good-will of his customers, he will be wise in 
his generation. Some newspapers give away a part of their daily issues ; they 
place at every agent's stand more than he can sell ; it pays. Theatres and opera- 
houses and concert managers distribute free tickets to the public — not merely 
to secure an audience, but to propitiate favor, to secure generous references in 
the press, and to advance their own interests. It pays. 

Niggardliness in any line of life is a blunder. Stinginess is a sin ; but it is 
quite as much a mistake. From the standpoint of policy alone — saying nothing 
of principles or character or the law of God or obedience to God or the claims 
of religion — from the standpoint of policy alone, it is true that " there is that 
scattereth and yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet 
and it tendeth to poverty." This proverb, like every other, is the ripe fruit of 
a large and rich experience of life ; and it is very old. But^ the experience 
which ripened and bore fruit in this form of sound words has been confirmed 
by ages of experience since. We do not value the beneficence which adver- 
tises itself in order to get gain. When merchants give away their goods for the 
purpose of attracting customers, we do not account them generous, but shrewd. 
When a man with blare of trumpets and beating of drums gives largely 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 203 

that he may have monetary gain or glory, we know very well what are the chief 
motives which actuate him. But his selfishness and love for distinction and 
desire for gain do not invalidate the proverb ; they rather illustrate it ; they 
reaffirm it ; they declare that generosity is profitable, that even a reputation for 
generosity is profitable ; it is well worth paying for ; there could be no better 
advertisement. It pays to be generous. 

But if this be the settled conviction of mankind ; if even worldly-minded 
people seek to trade upon it in the common walks of life; how valuable the real 
virtue must be ! There cannot be a counterfeit for that which has no intrinsic 
value. There cannot be a spurious coin unless the imitated coin has worth. 
The real thing is good ; it must be good ; it must have interest, and in this case, 
eternal worth. 

The fact is, beneficence is a divine attribute, and he who disciplines him- 
self in beneficence is developing his character in that which makes him like 
God. No one can be godlike who is not beneficent. Christ, in his Sermon 
on the Mount, points to the bounty of God in Nature, and exhorts those who 
believe it to be bountiful even as God is. How generous are God's gifts ! how 
unceasing his benefactions ! Even to his enemies, and to those who do not 
care for him, he gives. For his name is love, and love is nothing if not 
beneficent. 



A COMMANDER LOST, SAVING HIS MEN 



FIRE was discovered on board the United States Steamship Petrel, in the 
harbor of Manila, March 31, 1901. A number of the ship's crew, with 
the intention of getting a stream of water upon the flames, went down 
into the passageway leading to the sailroom, where the fire broke out in 
the early morning. They were driven back by the smoke and gases, but Lieuten- 
ant-Commander Roper, who had gone down with the men at the first attempt, 
upon learning that one of them had been left behind unconscious, went below to his 
rescue, in spite of earnest entreaties from those on deck. Naval Cadet J. E. Lewis 
gallantly stepped ahead of his commanding officer in an effort to relieve Com- 
mander Roper from such a hazardous duty, and other officers and sailors fol- 
lowed him below. 

The imperiled seaman was rescued, but Lieutenant-Commander Roper 
was brought on deck in an unconscious state and, despite the most earnest 
efforts of the ship's surgeon, died without regaining his senses. In all, twenty- 
three officers and men were overcome by the smoke and gases, but all recovered 
with the exception of their gallant commander. 

The brave ofificer might have lived to command his vessel successfully 
in battle, to sink the ships of his enemy ; he might have been spared to enjoy 



204 THE SPEAKING OAK 

promotion in his rank, but he could not have done as much for his country 
or his fellow men in a dozen ordinary lives as he did in laying- down his life 
for one of his sailors. 

If he had lived to become the Admiral of a fleet, he could not have secured 
such earthly immortality as he did in offering himself as a sacrifice for another. 
And the pages of naval and military history are adorned with just such brilliant in- 
stances of heroism and sacrifice. The American soldier and sailor is such a 
splendid type of a man that it is the usual, and not the unusual, thing for him 
to be brave and self-sacrificing in his devotion to his country. When volunteers 
were called for to sink the ship in the mouth of Santiago harbor, almost all of 
those who had an opportunity to do so offered themselves, knowing that the 
chances were death, not life, and were willing to give their young lives for the 
cause they loved so well. And those heroic men illustrate the well-nigh 
universal bravery and loyalty of the army and navy of the United States. The 
death of Commander Roper is another water-mark to tell how high the tide 
of human love may rise. 

^• V. ^. 

THEY SANG AND PRAYED IN THE STORM 



I 



ASKED a gentleman who rode with me in the car from Baltimore to Phil- 
adelphia, and who had told me of the struggle of a mother to save her 
babe and herself from the Galveston storm, to relate to me another inci- 
dent connected with the great disaster. He said : " Our Chief of Police, 
Captain Edwin M. Ketchum, was a splendid man in every way, brave and true. He 
and I have long been warm personal friends, although he was an officer in the 
Union, and I in the Confederate army. When the storm came two duties seemed to 
demand his attention and energy — the members of his family were at home, a 
mile and a half away, and he desired to go and rescue them ; he was a public 
officer, and hundreds were being drowned about him, and he felt it his duty to 
save as many lives as possible. He said to himself, ' My house is an old-time 
mansion, built very solidly, and likely to resist the flood ; besides, my two sons 
will be wise and brave enough to do everything possible to save the rest of 
the family. I will do the duty next to me, and save all that I can.' He col- 
lected almost a thousand people in the City Hall and in the safest part of the 
building. As the storm raged more fiercely, and building after building was 
thrown down, and as hundreds were being lost a portion of the roof of the 
City Hall fell in, and the wildest panic seized the people who had taken refuge 
within the walls. Women wrung their hands and screamed with terror. Cap- 
tain Ketchum, seeing the desperation of the situation, in a loud, clear voice, 
said: *Let us all sing "Nearer, My God, to Thee."* They did so, and the 
tumult was hushed into a heavenly calm, and earnest, united prayers for their 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 205 

safety were offered. Not a single person that took refuge in the building was 
lost, and most of them acknowledged that it was through the wisdom and 
bravery of the Chief of Police that they were rescued. Fortunately, the cap- 
tain's own house stood secure, and his family was spared. My nephew took 
refuge in it and escaped death." 

After the gentleman had related this incident, I asked him where he was 
during the storm. He said, " I was at home. The water came into our house 
and drove us into the upper story. As I helped my wife, who was in poor 
health, up the stairs, I felt there was a strong likelihood that we would be lost, and, 
though I am not a professed Christian, I stopped on those stairsteps as the water 
continued to rise and earnestly asked God to stop the storm and save us, and I 
told my brother-in-law, who is a prominent Sunday School worker and church 
member in one of the cities of the North, that as I had asked so little of the Lord 
during my lifetime, he had perhaps concluded to answer me." 

There are times of danger when scepticism leaves the soul and belief takes 
its place. There are times of peril when the prayerless man will pray; the 
instinct of the soul at such times is to cry out, " O God help me ! O God save 
me ! " Minds that are unmoved to the appreciation and adoration of the Divine 
Being in the ordinary events of nature are often stirred into activity and 
devotion by his unusual and terrible manifestations of power. The danger 
element included in the method of the Divine government has in it the important 
lessons of caution, prudence, wisdom, self-help, mutual assistance, and reliance 
upon the Supreme Being. 

Some policemen are so busy with the sale of law that they have no time 
to do their duty to the public, but most of them, like the Chief at Galveston, 
are loyal, unselfish, heroic men. It is a safe thing to do the duty just at hand 
and leave the result with God. It is likely that God will save from spiritual 
death the family of the man who is true to duty and who works for the salvation 
of others. 



LOST HIS ALL IN A LOTTERY 



PETER COOPER, when he was in his teens, invented a toy wagon, for 
which he received six dollars. He saved four more, which made ten dol- 
lars — his first capital stock. He was persuaded by a friend to invest the 
whole amount in lottery tickets, every one of which drew a blank, leaving 
him penniless. He said it was the most fortunate investment he ever made, as it 
impressed upon his mind, at the very beginning of his career, the folly and sin of 
taking values out of life without giving back corresponding values in return. And 
he made a rule, which he faithfully kept, that, while he would not be careless of 
securing values by just means, he would try to render some valuable service to 



2o6 THE SPEAKING OAK 

humanity every day and every hour in the day. He studiously avoided all ques- 
tionable methods of accumulation, and often declined to invest in legitimate 
enterprises because they had in them too much of the idea of speculation. 

The lottery is a vice which insinuates itself into the hearts of some good 
people by pretending to be a virtue. It appears in the form of an angel of mercy, 
and proposes many acts of charity ; and some good people yield to the tempta- 
tion and employ the lottery to raise money for benevolent institutions. They 
have taken it in some form or other into fairs and festivals to help the church. 
The lottery is a gambling device which has no reason for its existence anywhere, 
much less in the Church of God. It is well to learn, early in life, the folly and 
sin of undertaking to get something for nothing. 



BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER 



^ 



I 



N the story of the " Seven Chiefs Against Thebes " there is an account of 
the terrible struggle between the two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices. 
The latter bore a shield, with this device ; A woman leading an armed 
man and saying to him, " I am Justice, and I will bring back this man to 
the kingdom which is his right." The former, who had usurped his brother's 
throne, scofi'ed at the device of the wearer, and said that from his birth, Justice 
had never known him, \\niile the armies of both faced each other, in an open 
space between them, the two brothers engaged in a desperate personal combat, 
in which both w^ere killed. The one who thought he had the right of combat, 
and the other who thought he had the might of right lay side by side in death, 
over whose stained bodies there wailed the lamentations of both armies. Every 
now and then we read in the daily papers of a repetition of this kind of a 
tragedy. 

When I was a boy, it was reported upon the streets of our town one 
morning, that De Witt Evans and Bob Evans, his brother, had had a fight 
at a " Dutch ball," and that each had killed the other. Being personally ac- 
quainted with both of the young men, I went down to the hall, and, sure enough, 
the two brothers were stretched out side by side, cold in death, on boards 
resting on chairs. I shall never forget the feelings that came over me as I saw 
the little blue wounds made by the balls and the gashes made by the knives, 
and thought of the terrible demons that could make such a tragedy. Bad 
liquor and bad female company were the two evil spirits that wrought the double 
murder. Many are possessed of these evil spirits now, which care nothing for 
solemn vows or sacred love. 

According to Christ's high standard, the guilt of sin is not in the overt 
act, but in the hidden thought; so that murder is not in the bludgeon or 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 207 

weapon of steel, but in the hate of the heart. " He that hateth his brother is 
a murderer." There are members of the Christian Church who hate fellow- 
members so bitterly that if it were not for the fear of the penalty of the law, 
or the disgrace that would come to them and their families, they would not 
hesitate to kill them. There are members of the church in splendid standing 
who cherish the most unkind and hostile feelings against their fellows. They 
brood over some injury, or supposed injury; they nurse their revenges; they 
say the most uncharitable things about, watch every opportunity to get even 
with, and place in the way every barrier of success to their enemy. In their 
public services, in the church, and in their private devotions to God, they 
labor under the delusion that what they have is only a just indignation against 
a bad person ; when, in reality, it is hellish, murderous mahce. They would 
look with horror upon the Theban brothers lying dead in the arena, or upon 
the Evans boys stretched out in Apollo Hall ; when they have in themselves 
a cub of the same wild beast, with teeth large enough to bite ; a young snake 
of the same species, with fangs poisonous enough to kill ; a devil of the same 
kin, black enough to destroy the soul. Many rival warriors, statesmen, pro- 
fessional men, tradesmen, artisans and Christians who would not think of get- 
ting drunk, or lying, or stealing, or betraying their social vows, do not hesitate, 
often in an open and notorious way, to hate their brothers and, according to 
the New Testament standard commit murder. 



CONTEMPLATED SUICIDE; FOUND LIFE 



As I was about to speak at a meeting in Metropolitan Hall, New York, one 
afternoon, a tall, handsome, well-built, elegantly-dressed man of middle 
age came into the meeting. All eyes turned toward him as he walked 
down the aisle and took a seat not far from the front. At the close of the 
sermon the man raised his hand for prayer and afterward came forward to the 
altar. At the end of the service the leader asked him to tell the audience how he 
felt. He said : " Yesterday a terrible misfortune came upon me. I asked God for 
help to bear it ; I found no relief ; I spent a sleepless night, and this morning I re- 
solved to escape from my trouble by suicide. I was walking along Fourteenth 
street, studying the easiest method of getting out of this world, when I saw the 
sign indicating this meeting. I did not know there was any such service being 
held here. I entered ; the services took strong hold on me ; I felt how wicked 
as well as foolish it was to think of killing myself, and I determined to go to 
Christ and see if he would not give me relief. I gave myself and my burden to 
Christ, and he received me, and my burden is gone. An hour ago I was the most 
miserable man alive ; now I am the happiest." He continued : " I am of high 



2o8 THE SPEAKING OAK 

family in the Old Country, and have first-class social position in New York," 
and his face and manner bore evidence to the fact. When the meeting was dis- 
missed, the manager of the meeting sent a worker to get the man's name and 
number; not desiring identification, he declined to give either. There were 
conjectures as to his identity ; it was suggested by one that he had lost a fortune 
in speculation on Wall street ; by another, that he had been bereft of a loved one ; 
by another, that he had committed some terrible crime ; but it was all conjecture 
— nobody knew. They did know that he was a splendid specimen of manhood, 
and that he came into the meeting oppressed by sorrows, almost unto death, 
and left it with the joys of the Redeemed. 

There is no sin so foul that Christ's blood cannot cleanse ; no sorrow, however 
distressing, that the Holy Spirit cannot cure. 



NO HOPE OF SIGHT FOR THE BLIND CHAPLAIN 



w 



HEN Dr. W. H. Milburn, the blind Chaplain of the United States Senate, 
was in London, he consulted the leading oculists as to the possibility of 
regaining his sight. He was told that there was but one oculist, however, 
and that man Dr. Graef, of Berlin, who might effect a cure. He went to 
Paris to consult the French oculists. They concurred in the opinion that the only 
man who could treat him successfully was Dr. Graef, of Berlin, and congratulated 
him on the fact that Dr. Graef happened then to be in Paris, and so Dr. Milburn 
consulted him. The great German specialist said to the blind chaplain, " You 
must come to my hospital and remain there six weeks, before you receive the 
first part of the treatment." Dr. Milburn consented. He went to Berlin, and 
entered Dr. Graef's hospital. The oculist told him that he probably would find 
his sojourn very tiresome and tedious, and he would do well to advertise for 
somebody to read to him. Dr. Milburn advertised for an educated German 
woman who, for reasonable compensation and for the sake of Christ, would read 
to a blind chaplain. In response to this advertisement, Frl. von Forstner applied 
for the position. She happened to be peculiarly adapted to the requirements, 
being a niece of the famous theologian and preacher Schleiermacher. The day 
she was installed. Dr. Milburn asked her to take down Carlyle's Frederick the 
Great, Vol. V., to turn to page 119, and begin to read to him. He was such 
a quiet listener that Frl. Forstner several times thought he was asleep, and 
finally she stopped, thinking that he was no longer listening. He roared, " Why 
do you stop? Why do you not proceed?" In response, she asked him the 
question. " Why did you get a German and not an English or an American 
lady to read from the English historian's work to you ?" He replied, " What do 
English women know about Frederick the Great? I wanted to know all about 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 209 

him, and I knew that an educated German woman could tell me more on this sub- 
ject than any English woman I know. 

After six weeks, the oculist made the initial operation, and was delighted 
with its success. He told the chaplain he would have to wait several months 
before the next operation could take place, and in the meantime it would be 
just as well for him to return to America, where he would no doubt enjoy life 
more than in a strange country. Two months and a week after his return to 
this country, Chaplain Milburn was informed of the death of Dr. Graef. He 
could find no oculist who would undertake the delicate operation which Dr. Graef 
was willing to perform, and so, with the life of the great specialist, the chaplain's 
hopes of recovering his sight vanished. 

It is a joy to know that, in our spiritual blindness, there is a Physician to 
whom we can go with a certainty of relief, who never failed to restore sight to 
the patient who had committed himself to Him for treatment, and who never 
will. Death shall never remove this Physician from his beneficent work. " I 
am he that liveth and was dead ; and behold, I am alive for evermore." 

^• ^• ^• 

LIFE SAVING SERVICE 



I 



i t: * I 



N the graveyard of the Baptist Church at Manahawkin, N. J., are thirteen 
graves in a row. They are those of a captain and twelve sailors, who 
perished in a wreck off the South Jersey coast, a short distance below the 
Barnegat Inlet. Forty-three years ago the Austrian brig Count Perasto 
struck a sandbar at midnight, and, though only three hundred yards from shore, 
the thirteen, all on board, perished in the fearful storm, trying to swim to land. 
There was a man living in the neighborhood who saw the wreck, and said to 
himself, " What a shame ! All these lives could have been saved if some 
organized effort for their rescue had been made from the shore ! " The matter 
rested so heavily upon his heart that he began a series of experiments to find a 
way of sending a line to a disabled ship from the shore. At first he used a bow 
and arrow with a delicate string attached to it ; then a rocket with a larger 
string, and finally his idea was expressed in the mortar and ball and rope. That 
man was William A. Newell, and in his brain was born the Life Saving Service 
of the United States. Seven years after the wreck, Mr. Newell was elected 
to Congress, and as the most dangerous part of the New Jersey coast was in 
his district, he had a good reason for introducing his pet scheme for life-saving. 
His first resolution died in committee, John Quincy Adams, who occupied 
a seat behind him, said: "You have a good idea, and it ought to succeed." 
Abraham Lincoln, who was also a member, said : " Newell, that is a good 
measure ; I will help you. I am something of a life-saver myself, for I invented 



210 THE SPEAKING OAK 

a scow that righted itself on the Mississippi sandbars." The following sum- 
mer, when the Lighthouse Bill came from the Senate to the House, Newell 
saw his opportunity, and offered an amendment providing for surf boats, rockets, 
carronades and other necessary apparatus for the better preservation of life and 
property from shipwreck along the New Jersey coast, and for an appropriation 
of ten thousand dollars for the purpose. The amendment was carried, and the 
Life Saving Service became a governmental institution. The coast line guarded 
was from time to time increased, till to-day it includes three hundred rescue 
stations, manned by two thousand brave life-savers and supported by two 
million dollars of public money annually. 

Mr. Newell was honored as having been in Congress and Governor of the 
State, but most because he was in thought and in execution, the founder of the 
Life Saving Service of the United States. 

Science is reducing the perils of the deep. Philanthropy is entertaining 
a higher regard for the sacredness of human life. Christianity is urging a 
hisfher estimate of the value of an immortal soul, and the church is busv or- 
ganizing new instrumentalities for the rescue of those who are being lost. 
The heroism and almost superhuman energy of the life-savers should be copied 
by the Christian men and women whose duty it is to save their fellows from the 
spiritual wrecks that line the shores of time. 



STORIES OF A MODERN NOVELIST SUGGESTED BY 

THE BIBLE 



M 



R. HALL CAINE, the novelist, has surprised the reading public by telling 
how extensively he has drawn upon the Bible for his literary material. 
Pie says: , 

" I think that I know my Bible as few literary men know it. There 
is no book like it, and the finest works ever written fall far short in interest of any 
one of the stories it tells. Whatever strong situations I have in my books are not 
of my creation, but are taken from the Bible. The Deemster is the story of the 
Prodigal Son, The Bondman is the story of Esau and Jacob, Tlie Scape-Goat 
is the story of Eli and his sons, but with Samuel as a little girl ; and The Manx- 
man is the story of David and Uriah." 

The fact that truth is stranger than fiction is illustrated in the Sacred 
Scriptures. Tributes to the literary worth of the Bible are paid, not only by 
those who believe its divine authority, but also by those who deny it. The 
Word of God is full of truth which appeals to reason, and of pictures of truth 
that appeal to the imagination. There is no reason why the Holy Spirit, who 
indicted the Scriptures, should not have recorded the most perfect knowledge 




SCIENXE IS REDUCING THE PERILS OF THE DEEP 



(211) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 213 

of human nature, and the most accurate story of human life. The greatest 
writers, poets, painters, sculptors, musicians and orators, have derived their 
richest nourishment from the Book of God. Cut from literature and art what 
has been suggested by the Old and New Testament Scriptures, and we have but 
a tattered fragment of its present worth and glory. 

^m ^f» ^« 

A DRUMMER BOY BEATS A RALLY 

A' T Kernstown, when the Confederate forces were beaten back and it seemed 

as though the day were lost, Stonewall Jackson stood alone, amidst the 
flying bullets of the enemy, and, seeing his soldiers disorganized and 
beating a hasty retreat, called a drummer boy to him, and, placing his 
hand on his shoulder, commanded him to " beat the rally." He kept his hand on 
the boy's shoulder and had him continue the work until the line was reformed 
and defeat was averted. 

There were two essential instruments in rallying those disorganized forces 
— Stonewall Jackson and the little drummer boy. Each would have been 
powerless without the other. In the conflict of moral evil, when the forces 
seem disorganized and defeated, there is the need of the fearless, able leader, 
who will grasp the situation and employ suitable instrumentalities, and also a 
necessity for the little drummer boy — the least, the humblest soldier in the 
army of God — to beat the rally that shall reform the broken line and secure 
the victory. 



A 



THE FATAL BAR OF GOLD 

NOBLE ship was anchored in a harbor of a southern republic, and while 
strolling on the shore, the captain came upon one of the cisterns where the 
Incas had hidden their treasure, to prevent it falling into the hands of the 
rapacious Spaniard. The captain decided to load his ship with the shin- 
ing metal, and sail homeward to a life of peace and ease ; one of the middies, wild 
with the thought of securing enough to set him free from further labor, gathered a 
supply of food, and when night came stole away with one of the golden bars. He 
made his way out into the desert ; for days he journeyed, clinging to his prize, and 
yet he reached no habitation and saw no human face. The vegetation grew sparser, 
the cheerless journey more wasting. Years afterward, a caravan crossing the sands 
of an untraveled land came upon a human skeleton half covered from the sight 
of men. The half-made grave was opened, and there, in the bony arms of the dead 
seaman, w^as closely pressed the bar of gold. 



214 THE SPEAKING OAK 

This foolish sailor can be seen any hour of any day on any street of any 
city, or on any country road, slipping away from the pleasures of home, the 
sanctities of the church, away from moral obligation, from sweet charities, from 
true happiness, to go out into the desert of starvation and death. The only real 
impression he makes on the world is that of a half-covered skeleton in the sand, 
hugging a bar of gold. 

^• ^« ^« 

A CONQUEROR NOT STOPPED BY THE SEA 



w 



HEN Akbar, the Mohammedan conqueror of Africa, came in his crusade of 
conquest to the boundless ocean, he spurred his horse into the waves and, 
raising his eyes to heaven, exclaimed with fervent tones, " Great God, if 
my course were not stopped by this sea, I would still go on to the un- 
known kingdoms of the West, preaching the unity of thy holy name and putting to 
the sword the rebellious nations who worship any other god than thee ! " There is 
sublime eloquence in these words, betokening a most valorous spirit. But the 
Christian propagandist is not stayed by the ocean's vast expanse. Mountains are 
no bars and floods no hindrance to the progress of Christian truth. The moun- 
tains subside, the seas are dried up, the mouths of lions are stopped, flames are 
quenched, and Christianity goes bravely on to conquer an entire globe. 



PRESIDENT ESTRADA PALMA AND HIS MOTHER 



^ 



I 



N a conversation which I had with General Palma, the new President of 
Cuba, about his career, he made the following beautiful reference to his 
mother : 

" Every true son has the highest respect and love for his mother, but 
I have a special cause for gratitude, as my mother was one of the truest and best of 
women. What little I am, and what little I have done for my country, I owe to 
her. My father died when I was young. I was the only child, and mother lived 
for me. She taught me the path of rectitude, and my love for freedom she 
breathed into my spirit from her patriotic soul." 

'* General Palma," said I, " you have mentioned the debt of gratitude you 
owe to your mother. I have heard that she was murdered by the Spaniards. 
Have you any objections to telling me of her death ?" 

" It was in this manner," said he : " during the Ten Years' War, my mother 
followed me to the camp. She could have lived in the city in comfort, but I was 
her only child, and she would not remain away from me, but kept as close to me 
as she could. In 1873, she undertook to make her way to me, but was captured 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 215 

by Spanish soldiers. She was unable to keep up with the soldiers on the march, 
and they left her alone in the forest. It was in the rainy season, and for fourteen 
days she wandered about, without shelter, and with nothing to eat but the scanty 
wild fruit which she found. I learned of the capture, and sent men to rescue her, 
but they did not find her until she had been so wasted by starvation and exposure 
that she died the next day." 

" General," I remarked, " I noticed a statement in one of the papers that 
revenge for this foul murder of your mother intensified your relentless warfare 
on Spain." 

Jose Palma, the oldest son of the general, who was seated near us, said: 
" That statement is incorrect. My father's services have been rendered out of 
love for the country for which his mother died, and not from revenge for her 
fate. Some time after his mother's death, he served as a member of a court-mar- 
tial, which was trying for his life a Spanish captain who had been captured 
leading a guerrilla band. My father objected to the death sentence, whereat a 
member of the court said to him : ' You ought to be the last person to befriend 
this prisoner, as the Spaniards killed your mother, and this is your opportunity 
to avenge the crime with blood.' My father answered : *My love for my 
mother is so intense, and my memory of her is so sacred, that I cannot associate 
with them the idea of vengeance.' " 

I suggested that the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had quite a 
discussion over the vital question of recognizing God's providence in the Consti- 
tution. 

General Palma said, with some emphasis : " There was only one man who 
opposed that recognition of God ; all the rest favored it. The new republic had 
no hesitancy in recording that faith in God, which the people feel. My mother 
taught me, at the start, that such trust is necessary to high character, usefulness, 
and happiness. I consider that all moral law and order are based on faith in the 
Almighty, and that we must have His guidance in industrial and national life." 

The sainted mother has two immortalities, one in the other life, the other in 
this, in the spirit and service of her child. 

^* ^« ^ 

ESTIMATE OF DR. TALMAGE BY AN INTIMATE FRIEND 



KNOWING how close Dr. Klopsch was to Dr. Talmage personally and pro- 
fessionally, I called at his editorial rooms a few weeks after the death of 
the great divine and said, " Dr. Klopsch, would you take two or three 
minutes of your time to talk about your great friend and co-laborer." He 
answered : " Nothing would give me greater pleasure. I met Dr. Talmage first in 
May of 1885, and after that for seventeen years it was my privilege to sustain the 



2i6 THE SPEAKING OAK 

most intimate relationship with Dr. Tahnap^e, and the long^er I knew him the more 
I admired his genius, the more I loved him personally, the more I esteemed his 
noble character. I have lost the dearest and most loyal friend, the wisest coun- 
selor, the most unselfish of business associates. Sunny-hearted, genial, courteous 
and kind, optimistic, generous, sweet-tempered and forgiving, are terms which 
found in him their most perfect expression. No one came in personal contact 
with him who did not feel warmer and kindlier in his heart. Religion was the 
life of his soul and it breathed itself out toward others in Christian love. In 
his death the world lost one of its brightest jewels and the cause of righteousness 
its ablest, most loyal, most popular champion. 

" No man ever believed more firmly what he preached than did Dr. Talmage, 
and none could have a greater reverence for sacred things. Never did I hear 
him make light even in jest of those things which good and noble men and 
women the world over hold most dear. To him the Bible was God's inspired 
w^ord, and the many worn-out sacred volumes that he left filled with memoranda 
evidence how diligent a student he was of the Divine Word. He knew his Bible 
from Genesis to Revelation, and he preached to a sin-sick world from a heart 
fully consecrated to God. Millions of Christian homes will for a long time to 
come mourn the loss of this truly great and good man, 

" In the early part of my business life, when I first undertook to syndicate 
Dr. Talmage's sermons, which insured their regular weekly publication in more 
than 3,000 papers, I was not as successful as I had expected, and the results of 
my efforts fell considerably short of my obligations. One morning, Dr. Talmage 
called, and after greeting me in a cheery manner, he said : ' You have been much 
more successful than I had anticipated, but I can easily figure that you are not 
taking in all the money you are paying me. You are a young man, without 
capital, and you cannot stand this loss. My wife and I have talked the matter 
over, and we have come to the conclusion that I cannot afford to take money 
from you which I have not earned. So, if you are willing, we will cancel the 
contract now.' At that time, over $21,000 was yet to be paid under the agree- 
ment in the course of a number of years, and Dr. Talmage was willing to call it 
square. Fortunately, I saw my way clear to continue the agreement, which, after 
numerous renewals, remained in force tmtil it was terminated by his death. I 
cite this instance out of many to give an insight into his sense of fairness and 
his generosity. 

" No man could be more affable and approachable that was Dr. Talmage. 
At work at his editorial desk he would always take time to shake hands and 
exchange a word with many people who asked to meet him. And as for auto- 
graphs, he wrote them in quantities innumerable. 

" All that was mortal of our good friend now rests in Greenwood, but his 
spirit lives, and his influence will survive him for generations to come. 

" A prince among the princes of Israel jie was summoned to his coronation." 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 217 

When Dr. Klopsch had finished his estimate of his friend, I said : " Between 
twenty-five and thirty years ago I first saw Dr. Tahiiage. I went from Salem, 
Indiana, where I hved, down to Louisville, Kentucky, to hear him lecture. For 
an hour and a half he entranced me. His wit and humor were side-splitting, and 
his pathos forced the tears in spite of themselves. His description of Nature, 
its beauties, its sublimities was so perfect, his knowledge of human nature was 
so keen, his hits at the weaknesses and faults of men were so hard and yet in 
such a kindly spirit, his imagery was so gorgeous, his delivery so dramatic, his 
eloquence so thrilling, his enthusiasm so impetuous and overmastering that I left 
the hall completely captured by the man. In after years it was my fortune to 
enjoy his acquaintance and friendship. The last time I met him was in this room 
a few months ago. You remember, perhaps, how jolly he was, how hard he 
laughed and how he made us laugh, and how serious he became as he spoke of 
the martyr McKinley, and of the supreme value of faith in God, love for fellow 
men and hope of immortality. After a life of usefulness and of honor the soldier 
of the Cross has passed from the labors, conflicts and victories of earth to the 
rewards of heaven." 



THE TWIN GRAVES OF THE MOUNTAIN 



1^ 



I 



N the early days of gold gathering amid the hills of IMontana, two famous 
miners worked as partners in the Laughing Mist Gulch. They answered 
to the names of Old Reliable and Pansy, the latter had come to the Silver 
Bow district with a wife, and a little child, whom the rough miners 
named " Pan," whom they claimed as their mascot, and whom they were wont to 
have put her hand upon the gravel as they shook their treasure pans, believing 
there was luck in her gentle touch. 

Old Reliable and his partner secured an ample fortune and stored it up in 
the banks of San Francisco, thinking they would some day seek a more quiet 
life and enjoy their wealth. When the mother died, the little one became the 
care of these fast friends ; she had been well schooled before entering upon her 
wild surroundings, and had with her a single book, the Bible, whose sacred 
truths and loving words she used to read, as evening pastimes, to ReHable and 
Pansy, 

One day, in a hot dispute with a troublesome miner. Pansy was mortally 
wounded, and the murderer was at once hanged to the nearest tree. After that 
the girl and Old Reliable made up the family, and every night at the setting of the 
sun, in deference to her wish, they used to stand on the mountain peak, and say, 
" Jesus, Master, I believe that thou hast saved me by thy blood." The old man's 
locks were turning white, but his lips rather than his heart, went through the 
service to please the little maiden. He came to love her so, that he could endure 



2i8 THE SPEAKING OAK 

sacrifice for her welfare, and, though he was broken-hearted at the parting, she 
was sent to a school on the Pacific coast, where every luxury surrounded little 
" Pan." It is said no post ever reached " Silver Bow," without a letter to Old 
Reliable from the child. 

The marksmanship of the old miner was very skilled, but one day the 
cap on his rifle missed fire, and a marauder, mortally wounded the dearest earthly 
friend of little '' Pan." 

Fleet couriers bore the sad news to the nearest telegraph station, and by 
rapid stages the girl made her way to the dying man. The sun was sinking 
beyond the western hills as the child burst into the room where the dying man 
lay, and pressed her lips against his brow, now growing cold. The dying eye 
caught for the last time the light of earthly sunset ; his arm about " Pan's " neck, 
a smile upon his lips, he whispered, " Jesus, Master, I believe," and died. 

" Pan " buried him on Heart's Mountain, looking out upon the western hills, 
and not long after they buried " Pan " beside him, for her life was short. Ever 
since, for it was in her will to do it, and the means were plentiful, each day is 
reverently placed upon these graves a simple cross of flowers, and at the head 
of these two sleepers is a rock-hewn stone, with this simple inscription in letters of 
silver and gold, " Jesus, Master, I believe." 

Amid all the circumstances and habits of life, for rugged miner or beautiful 
maiden of the mountain, there is but one means of moral purification and one 
hope of a blessed future, and that is simple faith in the crucified Redeemer. 



PRESIDENT GRANT AND THE BIBLE 



THE editor of the Sunday School Times in Philadelphia was preparing a 
centennial number, and wrote to President Grant, asking him if he would 
send a message to the Sunday Schools of America. The editor received 
the following reply: 

" Washington, June 6, 1876, 
" To the Editor of the Sunday School Times, Philadelphia: 

" Your favor of yesterday, asking a message from me to the children and 
youth of the United States to accompany your Centennial Number, is this 
moment received. My advice to Sunday Schools, no matter what their denomi- 
nation, is: Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties; write its 
precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this 
Book are we indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this 
we must look as our guide in the future. Righteousness exalteth a nation ; 
but sin is a reproach to any people. 

" Yours respectfully, U. S. Grant." 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 219 

It is likely that this message of President Grant will be read to the school 
children and Sunday School children of the United States a thousand years from 
now, as one of the most terse and comprehensive expressions of the relation of 
the Bible to child life and national destiny. 



WASHINGTON IRVING ON SPIRIT COMMUNICATION 



M 1 V^ ^ conversation with Mr. John T. Terry, the President of the Western 
^i^ ^ Union Telegraph Company, I said to him, " Did you know Washington 
^^g Irving?" He replied, "Yes, very well, he was an intimate friend of 
mine. I was at his house the night he died, not at the hour, but just a 
little while before. My wife and I were there, and soon after we left he passed 
away suddenly. My place was near his, and we visited back and forth. I often 
entertained him as a guest and was entertained by him. From his boyhood he had 
been very fond of society, and at three score and ten he had not lost his keen relish 
for it. He had been entertained in the best circles of society in this country and in 
Europe, and was the ideal gentleman in the drawing-room. There was an irresist- 
ible charm about his personality which drew men and women, old and young, to 
him. I never met a man socially who had such a magical influence over me. One 
evening there were some guests invited to my house, Irving among the rest. 
When he came in, he said to me: 

" 'Have you any safe place, with lock and key, where you can put this 
package? It is very valuable.' 

" I took it from his hand and locked it up. As he started home he forgot it, 
and so did I. In a little while he returned, greatly excited, for the bundle. Taking 
it from my hand, he said, ' This is the manuscript of my Life of Washington, which 
I have just finished.' 

" I was very ill with pleurisy," continued Mr. Terry, " and Irving used to 
come over to see me, and sit at my bedside and cheer me. The sunshine of his 
loving presence was health to my body as well as my soul." 

I said, " Mr. Terry, is there any incident connected with your acquaintance 
with Mr. Irving which impressed itself upon your memory more distinctly than 
the rest ? " 

He answered, " There is one that I shall never forget. He was at my house 
one evening, and in conversation with me he told this story. He said : ' I was 
in Spain about the time that the question whether the dead can come back to 
speak to the living or not, was being generally discussed. A dear friend and I 
talked the matter over seriously, and determined to make a practical experiment 
to ascertain the fact. We agreed that whichever one should die first should return 
to a certain place in Spain in disembodied form at a specified time, and the other 



220 THE SPEAKING OAK 

was to be there to communicate with him. My friend died first, and at the ap- 
pointed time, I went to the place selected and, seating myself upon the stone, I 
waited for him, and I called for him, and I implored him to come and speak to me. 
But there was no form and no voice, and I made up my mind that the dead do not 
communicate audibly with the living, for if they could do so, my dear friend 
would have come to me.' I shall never forget the impressive manner in which 
he related the incident. There was not a particle of the humor which usually 
flowed from his lips ; there was the atmosphere of another world, which seemed 
to settle about us as he spoke." 

After hearing the incident from the lips of Mr. Terry, I said to myself, 
" Washington Irving has come back to earth. The Headless Horseman has found 
his head or sought another churchyard ; he is no longer the terror of Sleepy 
Hollow, the spirit of Irving is now its charm. He hovers over the Hudson, which 
he loved so well, and over the hills upon its banks which have been consecrated 
by his footsteps. His voice is echoed in the song of birds and the mirth of 
children, his beauty is mirrored in the flower-gardens, his love is reflected in the 
hearts of happy people. He is present in the public library and in the private 
study. He speaks wherever the English language is spoken. He charms the ear 
with the melody of his periods, he enriches the mind with the value of his truth, 
he cheers the nature with his inimitable humor, he clarifies the heart with the 
purity of his sentiment, he inspires the soul with the loveliness of his personality. 
Where there is the highest appreciation of the true, the beautiful, and the good in 
literature, the work of Washington Irving will live in the libraries and lives of 
mankind." 



THE EAGLE FROZEN TO THE GROUND 



A FRIEND, on one occasion, related to me the following incident: 
" I once had the very great privilege of listening to a conversation 
between two American authors — the late E. P. Roe and Julian Plaw- 
thorne. They spoke, among other things, of the unjust and harsh crit- 
icism to which portions of their work had been subjected. Mr. Roe referred 
especially to one incident mentioned in his writings, where he describes an eagle, 
which had been exposed to a storm when the rain froze as it fell, until the bird 
was so incased in ice, as in a coat-of-mail, that it was not able to fly, and was cap- 
tured in consequence by some passing wayfarers. 

" The incident had been mercilessly criticised as impossible, absurd, prepos- 
terous and the like. ' And yet,' said Mr. Roe, ' I have actually seen a bird 
in just that plight, and it could have easily been captured by any one who did not 
fear its beak and talons.' Mr. Hawthorne supplemented this statement by saying 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 221 

that he also had seen a fishing eagle, somewhere on the Long Island coast, in the 
same helpless condition from the same cause. 

"As I drove homeward through the moonlight, I thought how foolish one 
is to refuse to believe a statement merely because his own experience con- 
tradicts it." 



THE LOVER'S LOCKET 



THERE lived in Scotland, a few years ago, a little lassie whose parents 
were debauched; whose home was miserable. She preserved her Chris- 
tian character and fortitude under the most trying circumstances. All 
day long she toiled and ran errands, swept the hearth, and tended her 
younger brothers and sisters. The light of her life was the Mission School hard 
by, and there she was found, poorly clad, but clean, every Lord's Day. 

The good deaconess at this school, noticed that Jeanette always wore a 
locket. This was passing strange, since jewelry was not to her taste, and her 
means were scanty, nevertheless, that locket was always on the faithful little 
heart. Presently, hard fare and brutal treatment did their work, and Jeanette 
lay down to die. As she passed away, the watchers tried to remove the cher- 
ished trinket. She waved them aside. Presently, when Christ had claimed 
his own, they opened the locket. Nothing was within, no portrait, no memento, 
save these words, " Whom having not seen we love." 

No palace of wealth or culture could produce a more beautiful Christian 
character than this poor girl from the hovel. Her heart was a locket, richly 
jeweled, in the centre of which was the picture, the person of her Lord, who 
was her life, her love. Jeanette's locket with its lovely motto, might be profit- 
ably worn by every girl, by every follower of Christ. 



CRUELTY TO LIVING THINGS 



NE of the most marvelous creations of Coleridge's genius is his poem. 
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It is one of the most fantastic 
and grotesque poems in the English language. It is almost hideous in 
its weirdness, and yet contains a most helpful moral lesson. The wed- 
ding guest is going to the feast, when he is stopped by an ancient mariner. He 
unloosed the skinny hand that held him, but the mariner held him with his glit- 
tering eye, and the guest listens as passively as a three years' child. Then the 
mariner recited the tale ; how his ship was chased by the winds and waves into 
the South Sea, followed by an albatross, a bird of good omen. In an unlucky 



222 THE SPEAKING OAK 

moment the mariner with his crossbow shot the albatross. The whole universe 
seemed to sicken at this unnecessary act of cruelty. The wind died down. 

" Day after day, day after day 

We stuck, nor breath nor motion; 
As idle as a painted ship 
Upon a painted ocean. 

Water, water everywhere, 

And all the boards did shrink; 
Water, water everywhere, 

And not a drop to drink." 

The tongues of the sailors were so parched they could not speak ; they merely 
cast evil looks at the mariner that had caused this woe. Suddenly there appeared 
in the distance a sail, but it was only a phantom ship, and in despair the sailors, 
without a sigh or groan, fell lifeless to the deck. The ancient mariner alone was 
left. In his utter loneliness he tried to pray, but a wicked whisper hushed the 
thought. For seven days and nights the eyes of the dead men gazed at him and 
yet he could not die. He watched the water snakes coiling and swimming about 
the ship. 

" O happy living things, no tongue 
Their beauty might declare, 
A spring of love gushed from my heart 

And I blessed them unaware. 
Sure my kind saint took pity on me 

And I blessed them unaware. 
The selfsame moment I could pray, 

And from my neck so free 
The albatross fell off, and sank 
Like lead into the sea." 

That love and the prayer following occasioned a change in his fortune. He 
falls asleep, and while he sleeps a refreshing rain falls. The lifeless men arise 
and man the ropes, and the ship passes from the Southern Sea. 

" Farewell, farewell ! but this I tell 

To thee, thou wedding guest ! 
He prayeth well, who loveth well 

Both man and bird and beast. 
He prayeth best who lovest best 

All things both great and small; 
For the dear God who loveth us. 

He made and loveth all." 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 223 

Cruelty has in it the seeds of death. Love is Hfe, is life eternal. The dead 
mariners that lie on the decks of the ship of Zion can be brought to life by love. 



WU-TING-FANG ON LINCOLN 



THE ninety-second anniversary of Lincoln's birthday was celebrated by the 
Union League Club, of Brooklyn, by a dinner, at which Wu-Ting-Fang, 
the Chinese Minister to the United States, was the principal guest. His 
able address closed as follows : " To Lincoln may be applied the words 
which a Chinese historian uses in describing the character of Yao, the most revered 
and honored of the ancient rulers of China. * His benevolence was boundless ; his 
wisdom was profound ; to any one approaching him he had the genial warmth 
of the sun.' When viewed at a distance he seemed to have the mysterious warp 
of the clouds ; though occupying the highest station he was not haughty ; though 
controlling the resources of the whole nation, he was not lavish ; justice was the 
guiding principle of his actions ; nobleness was written on every lineament of 
his face." 

Lincoln was a child of America, but he was large enough to become the 
property of the world. Two Frenchmen were standing on the back platform 
of a Broadway street car, and as they passed the statue of Lincoln in Union 
Square, one said to his companion, " Who is this ?" and the answer came, 
" Lincoln, Lincoln le hon." " Lincoln, Lincoln the Good." All nations, all tongues 
pronounce him Lincoln the Good. 



SAVED 3,000 CHILDREN ; LOST HIS OWN LIFE 



WHEN the Boxer uprising in Pekin became so intense that the destruction of 
every foreigner and native convert seemed a question of but a few hours. 
Professor James, of the Imperial University, and Dr. Morrison, the Pekin 
Correspondent of the London Times, started out to find a place of safety 
for the native Christians, especially the children of the schools and orphanages. 
They prevailed upon Prince Su to give up the southern portion of his splendid 
palace for their purpose. The palace was just opposite the British legation. About 
three thousand, most of them little ones, many of them fatherless and motherless 
were marched into this palace and were saved from slaughter. Professor James 
had just assigned the little ones to the various apartments of the palace which 
they were to occupy, when a friend said to him that he was convinced that the 
Imperial troops were in collusion with the Boxers in the uprising. Professor 



22\ THE SPEAKING OAK 

James said that could not be the case, for Prince Su had assured him that the 
Government soldiers would never fire on the foreigners. That same afternoon 
the Professor undertook to return to the British legation by the North bridge, 
when he was shot and killed by Chinese soldiers. He saved three thousand 
children, himself he could not save. 

Professor James, in providing a place of safety for these little ones, builded 
wiser than he knew, for we heard Professor Gamewell, who was in a position to 
know the facts, say that without the possession of the palace of Prince Su, the 
allied forces would never have been able to hold out against the enemy. Pro- 
fessor James, in his service and death, taught a larger class and sublimer prin- 
ciples than he could have done in his university for a hundred years ; he did 
more for humanity and heaven than if he had lived a thousand ordinary lives. 



PRESIDENT McKINLEY AND DIVINE PROVIDENCE 



T 



HE ceremonies at the inauguration of President McKinley and Vice-Pres- 
ident Roosevelt were the most magnificent of any ever held in this coun- 
try. The parade was not as large or imposing as the one in honor of 
Admiral Dewey on his return from Manila, or the one in honor of General 
Grant after his trip around the world ; but in the beauty of the decorations, in the 
appearance and skill of the troops, in the multitudes of people present, and in the 
dignity and impressiveness of the exercises, the celebration surpassed by far any 
other one of the kind ever attempted in this country. At the appointed time Chief 
Justice Fuller stepped to the front of the pavilion to the right of the President, the 
President turned and faced him, and raising his right hand received the oath of 
office, at the conclusion of which, the Chief Justice opened the Bible in use in the 
Supreme Court, raised it toward the President's lips, who, bending low his head 
kissed the book. 

The book, it happened, was open at the sixteenth chapter of Proverbs, and 
it is said his lips touched these verses: "He that handleth a matter wisely 
shall find good ; and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he." " The wise in 
heart shall be called prudent ; and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning." 
The President then delivered his inaugural address, to an audience of thirty or 
forty thousand which stood in the pelting rain. His address, which was brief, 
contained two references to the Providence of God, one over the nation, the 
other over himself. He said, " Intrusted by the people for a second time with 
the ofiice of President, I enter upon its administration appreciating the great 
responsibilities which attach to this renewed honor and commission, promising 
unreserved devotion on my part to their faithful discharge, and reverendy in- 
voking for my guidance the direction and favor of Almighty God." 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 225 

Almost all of the Presidents of the United States have been men of faith 
and prayer, and in their public addresses have asked the guidance of God in the 
administration of their office. We recall the words of Major McKinley on this 
subject in an address at the dedication of a Young Men's Christian Association 
Building at Youngstown, Ohio, September 6, 1892. He said, " The men who 
established this Government had faith in God, and sublimely trusted in him. 
They besought his counsel and advice in every step of their progress. And so 
it has been ever since. American history abounds in instances of this sincere 
reliance on a Higher Power in all great trials in our national affairs. We have 
never had a President from Washington to Harrison who publicly avowed infi- 
delity or scoffed at the faith of the masses of our people." 



FELL TO DEATH IN THE ALPS 

RiECENTLY an English party, composed of Dr. Black, of Brighton ; Miss 
I Bell, the daughter of Edward Bell, the publisher, and Miss Trow, the 
daughter of a London clergyman, led by Leonard Carrel, the guide, were 
ascending the Matterhorn. They had reached a sublime height, from 
which the glory of the picture seemed indescribable. While the guide was cutting 
steps with an ice-axe, Miss Trow turned and exclaimed, " What a view !" As she 
said this, she slipped, dragging the party down the treacherous surface-ice. The 
rope broke, and Dr. Black and Miss Bell were hurled headlong 1,500 feet to instant 
death. Miss Trow and Carrel first fell over an ice ledge fifty feet high. They 
then slid down a slope less steep, after which, with terrific and ever-increasing 
rapidity, they shot down the ice ravine a thousand feet. The guide was rendered 
unconscious, but the relief party from the Hotel Mont Cervice heard a woman's 
voice from the bottom of an ice gully crying out, " We are not all killed." It 
was Miss Trow, and she was rescued. 

This too venturesome spirit we find also in the moral and religious world. 
People seem to see how near to the edge of the precipice of moral danger they 
can go without falling over, and in so doing, they slip into the awful chasm 
below. In some of the modern amusements, the young interest themselves in the 
question of seeing how near to the edge of wrong they can go, and still be right. 
The very proximity of the ground on which they stand, to moral evil, makes it 
dangerous ground. It is as slippery as ice. The tourists that fell to death in the 
Alps are illustrations of those who, in the moral or religious world venture too 
near the edge of wrong, and plunge into the chasm of ruin. 

The tourists were fastened together by a rope, and Miss Trow, in falling, 
pulled the rest down. People have to be careful of their moral and religious 
conduct, not only on account of their own safety but also the safety of others, for 



226 THE SPEAKING OAK 

thev are fastened by a rope to someone else and one slip of their feet may drag their 
compp.nions down. It is the surest plan for the traveler over the mountain 
to have a wide space between him and the edge of the precipice of wrong. 



A FATAL VANITY 



ANNIE McLEAN, a young woman of remarkable beauty, twenty-two years 
of age, lived in the city of Paterson, N. J. Her picture was sent to Buf- 
falo to represent America in a design for the Pan-American exhibition. 
When she learned that her picture had not been accepted, she became 
despondent, dressed herself in her finest clothing and committed suicide by drinking 
carbolic acid. Poor little moth she was ! So silly to fly into the flame and be 
burned. What Annie McLean did the more swiftly and rudely many a young 
woman, and young man as well, does more gradually and politely, but just as 
surely sacrifices body and soul on the altar of Vanity. The pride of form or fea- 
ture, of wealth or station, of birth or attainment, of robes and plumes, and jewels, 
the overweening desire for the notice and admiration of others, the giving up of 
the life to the empty vanities of earth, hurt the health and spoil the soul. 



PRIDE THAT WENT BEFORE A FALL 



S Xerxes was undertaking an expedition into Greece for revenge and con- 
quest, he asked the advice of some of his leaders as to the wisdom and 
possible result of his expedition, thinking, of course, that they would 
agree with him in his intention, and in his contemptuous estimate of the 
Greeks. Artabanus, his uncle, discouraged the expedition, telling them how pow- 
erful the Greeks were, and intimating very strongly that the gods might frown 
upon the haughty attempt to subjugate them. In his speech to the king, he says, 
*' Seest thou how God with his lightning smites always the bigger animals, and will 
not suffer them to wax insolent, while those of lesser bulk chafe him not. How 
likewise his bolts fall ever on the highest houses and the tallest trees? So 
plainly does he have to bring down everything that exalts itself. Thus often- 
times a mighty host is discomfited by a few men, when God sends fear or storm 
from heaven, and they perish in a way unworthy of them." Xerxes, angry 
with Artabanus, said that if he were not related to him he would kill him. As 
it was, he punished him for his intimation that failure might attend the war 
with the Greeks. According to Herodotus, the king crossed the Hellespont 
with more than five million men, and having a fleet of over twelve hundred 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 227 

ships, and after an unsuccessful war he returned to Persia with his army crushed 
and scattered and wasted by weapons and disease. In his humiUation he gave 
himself up to a life of debauchery, and was put out of the world in disgrace by 
the hand of one of his officers. The prophecy of Artabanus was literally fulfilled 
that God smites haughty heads to the dust, illustrating the word of Scripture, 
" Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord : though hand 
join in hand he shall not be unpunished," and the teaching of our Lord, " Who- 
soever exalteth himself shall be abased." 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S RELIGION 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, who in his writings and life emphasized the 
gospel of obedience, has given us the following valuable account of his 
religious experience and faith. He says : 

" For my own part, when I am employed in serving others, I do not 
look upon myself as conferring favors, but as paying debts. In my travels and 
since my settlement, I have received much kindness from men to whom I shall 
never have any opportunity of making the least direct return, and numberless mer- 
cies from God, who is infinitely above being benefited by our services. These 
kindnesses from men I can therefore only return on their fellow men ; and I can 
only show my gratitude for those mercies from God by a readiness to help his 
other children and my brethren. For I do not think that thanks and compli- 
ments though repeated weekly, can discharge our real obligations to each other, 
and much less those to our Creator. 

" You will see in this my notion of good works that I am far from expect- 
ing that I shall ever merit heaven by them. By heaven we understand a state 
of happiness, infinite in degree and eternal in duration. I can do nothing to 
deserve such a reward. He that for giving a draught of cold water to a thirsty 
person should expect to be paid with a good plantation, would be modest in 
his demands, compared with those who think they deserve heaven for the little 
good they do on earth. Even the mixed, imperfect pleasures we enjoy in this 
world are rather from God's goodness than from our merit ; how much more 
such happiness in heaven. For my own part, I have not the vanity to think 
I deserve it, the folly to expect it, nor the ambition to desire it ; but content 
myself in submitting to the will and disposal of that God who made me, who 
preserved and blessed me, and in whose fatherly goodness I may well confide, 
that he will never make me miserable, and that even the afflictions I may at 
any time suffer shall tend to my benefit. 

" I have myself no doubt that I shall enjoy as much of both temporal and 
eternal happiness as is proper for me. That Being who gave me existence, and 



228 THE SPEAKING OAK 

through almost three-score years has been continually showering his favors upon 
me, whose very chastisements have been blessings to me; can I doubt thaL He 
loves me? And if He loves me, can I doubt that He will go on to take care of 
me not only here, but hereafter ?" 



TAMING THE BRAZEN BULLS 



THE Grecian heroes landed at Colchis, where the Golden Fleece, which they 
sought, hung on a tree. King ^etes was angry because they had 
come to take the most valuable thing he had in his realm, and calling the 
leader to his palace told him that the dangers in securing the treasure 
would be so great that he had better not undertake the task ; that, beside overcom- 
ing the dragon at the foot of the tree on which the coveted prize hung, he would 
have to tame two brazen bulls, whose kings were furnaces of fire, and whose hot 
breath would burn him to a black cinder, in a moment of time. The young man 
said he was willing to undertake the task. Behind the king as he spoke, there was 
a beautiful woman, who was fascinated with the appearance of the young visitor, 
and, following him into another room, she told him that she was the daughter 
of the king and an enchantress, and would herself teach him how to tame the 
bulls. 

According to agreement, they met at night on the steps of the palace, and 
went together to the sacred grove where the animals were kept. She gave him 
a little gold box of ointment, which she instructed him to smear upon his body 
as a proof against the fire. He asked her if she was sure the ointment would 
protect him. She told him she was sure, but that if he had the least doubt 
about it, or the least particle of fear, he would be certainly slain. He put the 
substance upon his body, and started bravely for the farthest corner of the field, 
where he found the animals lying upon the ground. As they saw him, streams 
of fire poured out of their mouths and nostrils, lighting up the whole field and 
withering the vegetation about them. Bellowing aloud, they rushed toward 
him ; the heat from their brazen lungs set fire to the tree under which he stood, 
but he seized them both, and by his magical charm tamed them. 

In the conflict with the most terrific spiritual foes ; in securing the highest 
possible prize in life, there is a preparation that will protect the soul from harm. 
It is the Balm of Gilead ; it is the blood of Jesus Christ. 

In the conflict with moral evil, the least doubt or fear is followed by defeat. 
The maiden told the hero that the ointment would protect him from the assaults 
of the bulls, but only on the condition that he have implicit confidence in its 
power. The blood of Christ saves the soul, but only when there is the sincerest 
faith in its efficacv. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 229 

A SOUTH AMERICAN STATESMAN ON THE BIBLE 



DR. MAGNASCO, the Minister of Justice and Public Instructor of the Ar- 
gentine RepubHc, received a letter from Rev. William C. Morris, asking 
him to furnish his opinion on the Bible as an educational force in the 
country. He sent to Mr. Morris, the following answer: 

" When the Romans spoke indefinitely of a city as * Urbs ' it was always 
understood that they meant the great city, the head of the Old World. The 
word represented the monopoly of thought by its grandeur. 

" Thus also has it happened with the old ' Biblos.' The same antonomasia ; 
the identical monopoly. And in truth, none like the Bible deserves the name 
of book. It is peerless because of its intrinsic excellence. In its pages throb 
the teachings of ineffable wisdom ; all other books are but amplifications of this 
book. It is itself the sure way to the attainment of all the greatest human 
ideals — truth, kindness, and beauty. Its philosophy contains a purity too often 
forgotten ; its morality is the simplest goodness, its art the supreme beauty. 

" He who has not read the book will be incapable of experiencing the great 
sensations of intelligence ; neither can he bear upon his soul the marks of the 
tracks along which men and peoples go most surely to their natural destinies. 

" The worship of the Bible is not the worship of the past or of anachronical 
things, for it is a book which is eternally new and fresh as a perennial spring. 
And eternal also are its teachings ! they come to us from the remotest depths 
of time ; they comfort the present and illumine the future with the pure rays of 
everlasting light. 

" The Book of books deserves to-day more than ever the glorious monopoly 
of thought. There is no book outside of this book. And those who, through 
I know not what strange wanderings attributed to the modifications effected by 
modern civilization, judge of its value merely from the standpoint of bibliophiles, 
manifest clearly their rashness in so doing; and it is easy to understand that 
they have never meditated deeply over its pages, nor brought their spirit into 
the presence of its crystalline founts. 

" Our people must be built up with its teaching, and the book must be upon 
the tables of our homes, and on the desks of our schools. 

" The children of ancient Rome learned to spell from the text of their 
fundamental law — the Twelve Tables. It was not first of all the attainment of 
literary progress which induced the Roman matron to proceed thus: the chil- 
dren drank in a spirit of truth and justice from among the asperities of that 
primitive text, as from the jutting crags of the rugged rock the water leaps 
forth with more transparent beauty. 

" Our children should learn to read from the pages of the book ; the foun- 
tain of eternal health ; the key to all progress." 



230 THE SPEAKING OAK 

On the receipt of this testimonial, Mr. Morris sent the following reply: 

" Distinguished and much esteemed Mr. Minister : I cannot express to 
you my thankfulness for the very beautiful and most valuable testimony which 
you have so kindly sent me concerning the educational value of the Bible. It 
shall appear on the first page of the pamphlet which I am preparing for the 
press, and which will be published shortly for gratuitous distribution. I will 
translate it into English, and it will be published in several important papers 
and reviews of England, Canada, and the United States ; and it will be sure to 
command the attention and receive the favorable comments which it so well 
deserves. 

" When that which you so wisely advocate comes to be an accomplished 
fact — when the book is the counselor of our Argentine homes, and occupies 
the place of honor which rightly belongs to it in the Argentine schools — we 
shall then have commenced to build the greatness of our Argentine nation upon 
the immovable rock of eternal truth. 

" Kindly allow me, Mr. Minister, a moment of frank and sincere inter- 
course. You have been the first member of the Argentine Executive, from the 
date of our national independence to the present day, who has had the wisdom 
and the courage to propose the reading of the Holy Bible in our public schools 
— I refer to your message to the Honorable Congress dated June 5, 1899 — and 
now you plead with powerful eloquence in this magnificent testimony for the 
Bible in the home. And this advocacy reminds me of the never-to-be-forgotten 
privileges of my childhood, I received my first lessons in divine truth from 
the lips of my dear father and mother — who years ago finished their earthly pil- 
grimage — and the reading of a passage from the Bible, a short explanation of 
the paragraph read, and a prayer — that is to say, family worship — marked the 
beginning and the close of each day. Such teachings and examples can never 
be effaced from the spirit of the child. 

" If I might be permitted to do so, I would beseech you, in the name of 
the sincere affection which we profess for the Argentine people, to urge for- 
ward this propaganda in favor of the Bible which you have initiated. This 
cause, of which you are the leader and defender, will triumph. Its triumph is 
inevitable ; and on this triumph depends the complete freedom, the true progress, 
the abiding strength, and the lasting greatness of this great nation. 

" Again I thank you most heartily for this beautiful testimony, and I will 
entertain the hope that during long years your gifted mind may be consecrated 
to the work of proclaiming these profound truths, for the saving and the en- 
nobling of this young nation. 

" I salute Your Excellency most respectfully, and praying that God may 
preserve you for many years, I have the honor to subscribe myself your obedient 
servant. William C. Morris." 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 231 

La Tribiina adds these comments : 

" It is of the greatest importance to the Argentine people that a statesman 
occupying the position and enjoying the prestige which belong to Dr. Mag- 
nasco should thus have placed himself at the head of a movement fraught with 
such beneficent and far-reaching consequences. The Minister has met, and 
will meet, much opposition from those who fear the propagation of Bible truth, 
but he has shown already that he has the courage and the strength to stand 
alone and defend with decision and ability a cause to which he is committed. 
May he prove to be a valiant national leader in the cause of educational, moral 
and religious reform ; for in this work he can confer the greatest possible bless- 
ing upon this country and nation." 

Such a testimonial from such a source is one of the most remarkable trib- 
utes to the value of the Bible in national development and happiness, which 
has ever come under our eye. If such plans for State building can be carried 
out, the Argentine Republic bids fair to become one of the most prosperous 
and happy nations upon the earth. 



LINCOLN AND THE BIBLE 

ONE of the most beautiful stories of the Civil War has been told by a 
wounded Confederate soldier boy. It is as follows: 

" In the summer of 1862 I was with General Lee's army on its march 
into Maryland. We had a rough time before we crossed the Potomac, 
and much worse after we got on this side. At the battle of Sharpsburg my regi- 
ment, the loth Alabama, suffered heavily in killed and wounded. Among the 
wounded of Company K was myself. I was supposed to be mortally wounded and 
left on the field, and consequently fell into the hands of the Union forces. As I lay 
suffering from pain, and being very weak from loss of blood, and wishing that 
death would come to my relief, a gentleman dressed in citizen's clothes came up 
to me, stooped over my almost lifeless body, and in a gentle voice said, ' My lad, 
you are very young to be in the army. How old are you ? ' 'I am sixteen, and 
am dying. Will you be kind enough to send this Bible to my mother?' I 
drew the book from my pocket and gave it to him. He said, ' Your mother 
shall have this Bible, and you shall take it to her.' On the fly-leaf was written 
my mother's name and address, with the following lines underneath, * Will some 
generous foe please return this book to my mother and give this body Christian 
burial?' He; asked my name and command. I said to him, 'My name is 
Darby, Company K, loth Alabama.' As the stranger turned to leave I called 
him back and asked him to please give me his name, as I did not wish to 



232 THE SPEAKING OAK 

die and never know who to thank for such kindness. ' You will not die, my lad ; 
take courage, you will be cared for/ were his words. ' My name,' he said, ' is 
Abraham Lincoln.' When he announced his name it stunned me. I thought, 
was it possible that President Lincoln would notice a wounded rebel? I will 
never forget the impression it made on my mind. 

"I was taken to the hospital at Frederick, Maryland, where I received 
every attention that medical skill and careful nursing could bestow to relieve 
my sufifering. After many months I became convalescent. One morning I was 
called to headquarters and notified that I would be sent the next day to Fort 
Monroe. You can imagine my delight ; my heart leaped into my throat ; the 
night passed wearily away, but I was cheered with the hope of seeing the dear 
ones at home. I was anxious to see what the next day would bring forth. As 
I was about ready to leave for Baltimore the officer handed me a small package. 
After I had started on the journey I unwrapped the covering of paper and found it 
was my Bible. In turning over the pages I found a card in the book, with 
the following written on it : * Take this Book of God to your mother. A. Lin- 
coln.' The card was in the I2th chapter of Ecclesiastes, and the ist, 13th and 
14th verses of that chapter were marked in pencil with the letter * L.' The first 
verse read thus : ' Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while 
the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say I have no 
pleasure in them'; 13th, 'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 
Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man '; 14th, 
* For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, 
whether it be good or whether it be evil.' 

" I devoted my time on the trip to Baltimore and Fort Monroe com- 
mitting to memory the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes, which I have never for- 
gotten. When I reached home I told the story of my captivity, and how kindly 
I had been treated by the enemy. They were not disposed to give my statement 
the proper credit. I produced the Bible which mother had placed in my pocket 
when I started to the army nearly two years previous. I turned it over to her, 
as President Lincoln told me I should do, just as I received it from the officer 
at the hospital. She was not long in finding the card and the marked verses. 

" 'Ah,' she said, ' my son, let these verses ever be your guide, both in war 
and in peace. This precious book saved your life.' I have tried to live up to 
the teachings of that Bible and the verses designated by the hand of the great 
Lincoln. I taught it to my only son as a maxim to pilot him through life, and 
made the same request of him that my mother did of me." 

The Bible, Aesop's Fables, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress were the 
three books Lincoln's mother gave him, and they composed his library in his 
cabin home. He learned them almost by heart. About all of his messages and pub- 
lic addresses delivered while he was President, contained some quotation from 
the Holy Scriptures. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 233 

IT IS FINISHED 

HE Venerable Bede, the Father of EngHsh history, lay dying- in his mon- 
astery at Jarrow, in the year 735. Great and many had been the works of 
this good priest, but the effort on which his heart was most earnestly set, 
was the translation into the common language of the four Gospels, and 
now when the pangs of death were lacerating his body, the last Gospel was yet 
unfinished. 

The monk, feeling his end rapidly approaching, hastily summoned his 
scribes, and bidding them write with speed, began to dictate the translation 
with feverish haste. Swiftly flew their pens, but death moved swifter, and when 
the last chapter of the Gospel of St. John was reached, the pens were forced to 
cease from their writing ; for the monk's lips were silent, as his thoughts were 
taken up with the death struggle raging within him. 

Despite the sorrow of his disciples, the zeal of one overcame all other 
emotions, and he softly whispered : 

" Dearest Master, there is yet another chapter wanting ; will the trouble 
be too severe ? " 

The dying man roused himself ; his indomitable spirit asserted itself even 
in the face of death, and he answered in feeble tones : 

" Trouble there is none ; take your pen, prepare your parchment and write 
fast." 

Again the pens work rapidly ; no other sound disturbs the chamber of 
death save the low voice of the dying man dictating the words, and the 
scratching of the pens. 

For a time the soul is superior to the weakness of the flesh, and the work 
progresses rapidly, but again the power of dissolution makes itself felt, and the 
voice of the priest once more becomes silent, as he leans back from exhaustion. 
But the task is not yet completed, and fearful of losing the knowledge of his 
master, the disciple again says softly, while the tears roll down his cheeks : 

" Dearest Master, there is yet one sentence unwritten." 

There is a short struggle, and the will again proves its power, and the 
priest, with faltering accent, says : 

"Write quickly." 

The sentence is finally completed, and as the last words fall from his lips, 
the scribe exultantly exclaims, " Master, it is finished." A happy smile illumines 
the countenance of Bede, as he replies : 

" It is well ; you have said truly, it is finished ; bear me in your arms and 
set me before the place at which I was wont to pray." 

Tenderly the monks carried him to the spot, and then, while they lifted 
up their voices in " Glory to God the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Ghost," 
the good Bede died, even while they were singing. 



234 THE SPEAKING OAK 

The Great High Priest, after having offered Himself as a sacrifice for the 
sins of the world, on the cruel Cross, hung in inexpressible agony, until He 
had drunk to the dregs the last drop of human guilt and human woe, and 
then said : " It is finished," and gave up the Ghost. It was finished, the last 
word of the law and the Gospel was fulfilled, the last and only possible thing 
that could be done for the redemption of the world had been done, and, having 
finished His mission, He went back to His Father's throne to make continual 
intercession for men. 



BIG-HEARTED GENERAL LEE 



W' HEN General Lee had been informed by General Gordon that his army 
had been wasted to a fragment, and that he could no longer resist the 
enemy, Lee said, " There is nothing left but to go to General Grant, and I 
would rather die a thousand deaths ! " and then, for the first time during 
the war, he sank into a fit of deep despondency in which he said, " How easily I 
could get rid of this, and be at rest ! I have only to ride along the line, and all will 
be over ! " He was silent for a short time after uttering these words, then, with a 
heavy sigh, added, *' But it is our duty to live." After the surrender, however, he 
set himself cheerfully to the task of filling out, with usefulness and honor, the days 
that remained to him. He, who during the war had never been heard to say an 
unkind thing about the Northern people, after it did everything in his power, 
by precept and example to allay sectional bitterness and encourage loyalty to 
the Government of the United States. While he was President of Washington 
College — which position he accepted at the close of the war — a woman, whose 
husband had been killed in the Confederate army brought her two sons to him. 
Thinking she would have a listener in sympathy with her, she indulged in a 
bitter tirade against the North, and to her surprise the General gently said: 
" Madam, do not train up your children in hostility to the Government of the 
United States. Remember that we are one country now. Dismiss from your 
mind all sectional feeling and brin^ them up to be Americans." 

With this freedom from bitterness, his spirit went a step farther in its superb 
magnanimity as illustrated in this incident, told by a gentleman of the North: 

" One day last autumn, the writer saw General Lee standing at his gate, 
talking pleasantly to an humbly-clad man, who seemed very much pleased at 
the cordial courtesy of the great chieftain, and turned off, evidently delighted, 
as we came up. After exchanging salutations, the General said, pointing to 
the retreating form, * That is one of our old soldiers, who is in necessitous cir- 
cumstances.' I took it for granted that is was some veteran Confederate, when 
the noble-hearted chieftain quietly added, * He fought on the other side, but we 
must not think of that.' I afterward ascertained — not from General Lee, for he 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 235 

never alluded to his charities — that he had not only spoken kindly to this ' old 
soldier ' who had * fought on the other side,' but had sent him on his way 
rejoicing in a liberal contribution to his necessities." 

A man of such mental ability, such military genius, such religious devotion, 
such kindness of spirit, such magnanimity of soul, will have a permanent place 
in the respect and affection of all true Americans. 



BENJAMIN HARRISON AS A LAWYER 



BENJAMIN HARRISON, like so many of our Presidents was born in Ohio. 
His great grandfather was thrice Governor of Virginia, and voted for and 
signed the Declaration of Independence ; his grandfather was Governor of 
the Territory of Indiana, United States Senator and President of the 
United States, and his father was a Democratic politician, a Congressman from one 
of the districts of Ohio. The rough cradle in the log house that held Benjamin 
Harrison was the same kind of a one that rocked Lincoln and Grant. His parents 
were ambitious for him and sent him to school and college. He began the practice 
of law at Indianapolis. He volunteered in the Union army, and was made a 
brigadier-general for bravery and ability on the field after the battle of Peach 
Tree Creek. In 1876 he was defeated for the Governorship of Indiana, in 1881 
he was elected United States Senator, and in 1888 to the Presidency. 

Mr. Harrison was physically low of stature, but mentally and morally he 
towered head and shoulders above most of his countrymen. His intellect was 
of a superior order, remarkable not so much for the pre-eminence of any one 
faculty as for the symmetry and vitality of them all. His strong and evenly 
balanced mind was polished into comeliness and sharpened into efficiency by the 
schools and by the discipline of his profession. The great success he had in 
the profession of the law was in itself a high tribute to his intellectual ability. 
He was the ablest lawyer west of the Alleghanies, and was perhaps one of the 
three or four greatest lawyers in America. W. P. Fishback, his old law partner, 
who died a short time before he did, wrote : " General Harrison possesess all the 
qualities of a great lawyer in rare combination. He prepares a case with con- 
summate skill ; his written pleadings are models of clearness and brevity ; he 
is peerless as an examiner of witnesses ; he discusses a legal question in a 
written brief or in oral argument with convincing logic, and as an advocate, it 
may be said of him that when he has finished an address to a jury nothing re- 
mains to be said on that side of the case. I have often heard able lawyers in 
Indiana and elsewhere say that he was the hardest man to follow they had 
ever met. No lawyer who ever met General Harrison in a legal encounter has 
afterward placed a small estimate upon his ability." 



236 THE SPEAKING OAK 

WANG CHENG PEI'S BEAUTIFUL DEATH 



R 



EV. F. G. GAMEWELL, as he was hurrying- to the important work to 
which he had been assigned in the siege of Pekin, saw men carrying a 
native Chinese on a stretcher. The man had fought bravely and had 
received a mortal wound. Professor Gamewell discovered that it was a 
personal friend, a missionary, Rev. Wang Cheng Pei, pastor of the Methodist sta- 
tion at Fei-Cheng, in the Shaw-tung District, who had come up to Pekin to attend 
the annual session of the Conference. Thirty years before he had wheeled his 
aged mother four hundred miles in a wheelbarrow to Pekin, to give her the advan- 
tages of Bible study and Christian preaching. Professor Gamewell expressed 
deep sorrow at the fate of his friend, who answered, " Pray for me. It is all 
well. My body is in great pain, but my heart has great peace." The prayer 
was offered at the side of the stretcher while shot and shell were falling thick 
and fast. And then the man who prayed rushed away to fight, and the one 
for whom he prayed passed to his reward. Death, however suddenly or sav- 
agely it may come, will find the true Christian ready. Death is not an enemy, 
but a friend to take the true Christian warrior to his palace and his crown. 

" Thy Saints in all this glorious war 
Shall conquer though they die." 



THE PRINCE AND THE CHILDREN 



F" REDERICK III. of Germany, was passionately fond of his children. He 
mingled in their sports, and romped with them through the palace. One 
day a visitor, calling for alms, found the Prince on his back, in the middle 
of the floor, his children on him, trying to hold him down. Turning to 
the visitor, he said : " You see I have a large family ; they have ravenous appetites 
and are breaking me up. How can I help you ? " This he said in fun, for he was 
full of play, but the next day he saw to it that the cause presented received a 
generous contribution. He was conducting a grand parade one day, when he 
saw a poor little girl trying to see the soldiers, but failing because those in 
front of her were so thick and so tall. He rode near to where she was, and 
ordered a soldier to give her to him. And he lifted her up and placed her in 
the saddle in front of him and rode along the lines that she might get a good 
look at the soldiers. What a beautiful picture ! Worthy to be put on canvas, 
or to be cut in marble for the eyes of the ages — a great general, with shoulders 
strong enough to hold up an empire, with spirit tender enough to carry a child 
of poverty in his bosom. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 237 

MEETING AFTER THIRTY YEARS OF ABSENCE 



I 



WAS invited to speak, one Sunday afternoon, at the Young Men's Insti- 
tute in the Bowery, New York City. The room was full of young men. 
The Scriptures were read by the chairman of the Devotional Committee ; 
beautiful music was rendered; and earnest prayer was offered. I spoke 
about twenty minutes on the religious privileges and duties of young men, urging 
them to be charitable with their fellow men, and especially to try to bring some soul 
into the Kingdom of God. At the conclusion of the remarks, a well-dressed, 
gentlemanly-looking man arose, and addressing the one who had charge of 
the meeting said, " With your permission I should like to relate an incident 
which illustrates the lesson of this hour's message. In a certain college were 
two young men near about the same age, their fathers were both lawyers, had 
both been judges, and were themselves friends. These two students were in 
the same department in college ; were in the same class ; boarded with the same 
family, and slept in the same bed. They became very closely attached to each 
other. One was a Christian ; the other was not. The one who was a Christian 
never spoke to the other on the subject of religion, until one evening as they 
were about to retire for the night, he said, ' Frank, I have often felt it my duty 
to speak to you on the subject of your soul's salvation, but have never quite 
had the courage to do so. Do you not think it is about time you were becom- 
ing a Christian. It seems to me you ought to consecrate your young life to 
the Master, besides, Christ can do so much more for you than you can do for 
His cause.' The young man replied, that he had often thought he ought to enter 
upon a religious life, and intended, some day to do so. The room-mate answered, 
* Why not here and now.' The other said, ' I am willing to do so.' Both 
kneeled by the side of the bed, and prayed the prayer of faith, which was 
answered by the conversion of the one who sought. And next to the joy 
of the one who was saved, was that of his mate who had led him into the 
light. Soon after, these classmates parted, and strange to say, for thirty long 
years neither ever saw the face of the other, nor had a line of communication 
with him. This afternoon they have met. I am the one who was converted, 
and the room-mate who brought me to Christ is the minister who has addressed 
us this hour. I came East to finish my college education, and settled in my 
profession. I lost sight of my friend; did not know that he was in the min- 
istry. I knew that he had another profession in view, and supposed that he 
was following it. I saw in one of the New York papers, that a person bearing 
the same name as my old classmate was to speak here this afternoon, and I 
came over from Brooklyn to see if it was the same man." Having made these 
remarks the visitor sat down. I could not believe my eyes, and could hardly 
believe my ears, for the boy with clear complexion, and red, rosy cheeks, had 
become the mature man, with beard all about his face ; with only here and there 



238 THE SPEAKING OAK 

a hint of his former features. He had become an officer in one of the leading 
Congregational Churches of the country, and a physician of skill and reputation. 
I went down into the Bowery, simply to talk to the young men about Christ ; 
I had the added joy of renewing the friendship of my old room-mate. 

We never see one-half of what we do ; there is a larger harvest from evan- 
gelical seed that is scattered than one would think ; there is a greater reward 
to an effort to save souls than one would imagine. If we shall only embrace 
one opportunity out of a hundred presented to us ; if we shall only bring to 
Christ one out of a score whom we might save, our crowns at last, through 
grace divine, will be studded with jewels. And, under the shade of some tree, 
or in some garden of flowers, or by the side of some fountain in that other world, 
persons whose faces we had forgotten, or had never known, may say to us " by 
some word or petition or act, you brought me to the Cross and to this beautiful 
heaven." 



PAGANS AND CHRISTIANS PRAY FOR EACH OTHER 






MRS. McKINLEY, who accompanied her husband and the members of his 
Cabinet on a tour of the West, became dangerously sick in California. 
Her life was in the balance, and earnest prayers were offered for her res- 
toration. Heathens, as well as Christians, united in their petitions for 
her recovery. The following wonderful and beautiful request, that the Chinese 
of San Francisco prayed for the recovery of the President's wife, was published 
in the Ching Sai Pat Vo, the Chinese daily paper of San Francisco : 

" It is our custom that each householder erects within the living room 
of his residence, however humble the home be, a shrine before which he may 
worship after his own faith. We request that, this night, the elder of each and 
every Chinese family pray fervently and tenderly to the Creator to spare and 
restore to health the wife of this great man, the heart of his heart, for whom he 
has shown a devotion which must excite the admiration of every true-hearted 
man, be he Christian or pagan. We may differ materially in our religious faith ; 
and, because of thousands of years of training, it is sometimes difficult for us to 
agree on certain ceremonial laws ; still, our love for those whom we have taken 
to our hearts is identical, and the same tender love for wife and family is common 
to all mankind. Our sympathy for the President is as sincere and as intense as 
it could be were it expressed by his own people." 

This request for prayer astonished us greatly, as we were not aware that 
the Chinese people entertained such a distinct faith in the existence of the 
Supreme Being, or of his willingness to hear and answer prayer, Confucius, 
who thought that the gorgeous Oriental mind had given undue emphasis to 
the spiritual and eternal, paid almost no attention to them in his teachings. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 239 

Insisting that to meet obligations with reference to this world was the whole 
duty and reward of man. He taught rigidly the sacred relations of ruler and 
subject, parent and child, of husband and wife, of brother and sister, and it 
would be perfectly natural for the Chinese mind to be profoundly impressed 
with the sorrow of the great ruler of the great nation for his beloved wife, and 
his unceasing devotion to her. It is likely that the nearness of these Celestials 
to our western civilization gave them a spiritual light which Confucius did not 
have, which prompted them to cry out to a personal God. 

The tender sympathy of the universal heart and its instinctive cry to the 
Supreme Being for the help of another, is also similarly illustrated in the prayer 
of the missionaries and the native Christians for Li Hung Chang when he 
was so dangerously wounded by the assassin's bullet in Japan. The Earl 
wrote a public letter, in which he expressed his belief that the prayers of the 
Christians for his restoration had been heard, and that God had spared him to 
do some good in the world. And, during his visit to this country, when the 
representatives of the various missionary societies called at the Waldorf Hotel, 
New York City, and presented to him an address, which was handsomely en- 
grossed in a black sealskin portfolio lined with red, he made a beautiful answer, 
closing with these words : 

" I have to tender in my own name my best thanks for your most eflfective 
prayer to God to spare my life when it was imperiled by the assassin's bullet." 

In this acknowledgment, Li Hung Chang, as well as the California Chinese, 
went farther than Confucius in his belief in a personal God, who hears and 
answers prayer. The Hindoo mind seems to be moving toward Christian 
faith. May it not be possible that the Chinese mind, so stationary for four 
thousand years, is now taking a step or two at least toward Christ ? 



AN OLD MAN SCATTERS FLOWERS OVER 
SOLDIERS' GRAVES 



T 



HE Decoration Day of 1901 fell on Thursday. At our prayer-meeting 
service that night, an old man arose and said : " For seventy-five years I 
have been traveling on the Christian road and I am not tired of the jour- 
ney. I regret my mistakes and sins, but rejoice in Christ's love which has 
been so constant, and whose arm to hold me up has been so strong. This after- 
noon I took some flowers to the cemetery, and scattered them over the graves of 
the dead soldiers ; all the time that I did so, I thought of my own little boy, who 
was shot to death in the battle of the Wilderness, and whose body lies un- 
marked, down in Virginia. With his uniform, soaked in his life-blood, as his 
only covering, they put him, with hundreds of other dead soldiers, in a long 



240 THE SPEAKING OAK 

trench, and threw a little dirt over him. I knew no one would put any flowers 
over his dust, unless the kind Father would allow some wild flowers to grow 
there. My heart seemed to fly away to the Wilderness, and to find the unknown 
grave ; and as I scattered the flowers this afternoon, some seemed to fall on 
the resting-place of my little boy. He was only fourteen, and so fair and lovely 
and promising. I'm in my ninetieth year, and will soon be gathered to my 
fathers, and will meet the loved ones who have gone on before me, and I will 
have my little boy again, who fought and died for his country." 



LINCOLN'S MAGNANIMITY 



I 



CALLED at the office of a daily newspaper in Newark, N. J,, one morning 
and asked to see the editor, Mr. Noah Brooks. He came out, and invited 
me into his sanctum. After begging his pardon for intruding upon his 
busy hour, I said, " Mr. Brooks, I understand that you were the editor of 
a newspaper in Illinois, and that you were an intimate friend of Mr. Lincoln." 
" Yes, that is true," he answered. I said, " Mr. Brooks, would you relate to me 
some incident illustrating Mr. Lincoln's magnanimity?" "There are so many I 
could give you," he said. " Take this one. There was quite an organized opposi- 
tion on the part of the radical wing of the Republican party to Lincoln's nomina- 
tion for the Presidency for the second term. Among the leaders was a John Wil- 
son. His friends caused a change in a department at Washington to make a place 
for him, a place as Third Auditor of the Treasury. The orthodox Republicans 
were disgusted at the insolence of himself and his friends in applying for the posi- 
tion after his hostility to the President. I myself went to the White House to pro- 
test against his appointment. As I entered the door, I met Wilson and two friends 
coming out in great glee. I went in to see the President and he, noticing the 
disappointment in my face, said, * You do not look pleased,' ' I am not,' I said. 
' Is not Mr. Wilson an honest man,' asked the President. ' Yes,' said I. ' Is 
he not competent?' 'Yes, I understand so.' 'Would he make a good Third 
Auditor of the Treasury?' 'Yes, I presume he would.' 'Then I think that 
settles it. I do not allow any personal ill-treatment to affect my official admin- 
istration.' Then he went on to say, ' When Moses was on the Mount receiving 
the law of God, Aaron made a golden calf and caused a bolt in the camp. 
When Moses came down he was very angry, but Aaron got his commission all 
the same,' that was the way he had of telHng me he had given Wilson his com- 
mission despite my anger." 

How few in life will forget an injury, or fail to punish an enemy if the 
opportunity shall offer. A man must be pretty close to the heart of the Christ 
to reward an enemv. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 241 

HEROIC CARE FOR INSANE RELATIVES 



RIDING along a country road with a gentleman, recently, he said to me 
" That little, low, old-fashioned farmhouse has quite a strange history." 
On asking what was peculiar about the place, he continued : "A brother 
and sister live there. He is deaf and dumb and insane; he has a huge 
body, but short legs, and crawls on his hands and knees like an animal. She de- 
votes her whole attention to caring for him. For many years, another sister looked 
after the farm, while she cared for him, but at the death of that sister, the care of 
both the farm and the brother fell on her. She could have sent him to an asylum; 
she could have accepted ofifers of marriage, but she did not do so. This poor, 
disgusting animal who, at times, acted like a dangerous beast, was her brother, 
and she loved him ; and, for forty long years she has done almost nothing but 
wait upon him." 

I said to the gentleman : " The incident you have related reminds me of 
another. I have a friend, a merchant in New York, whose only daughter was 
comely in appearance, bright in intellect, quick at her studies, and singularly 
proficient in her music. Her reason slipped from its throne, bringing a dark 
shadow over the home. For many years the mother has lived for her afflicted 
daughter, her whole existence has been bound up in her child's welfare. The 
father treats the daughter just as though she had all her mental faculties, only 
a little more tenderly ; he takes her riding with him through the parks, and 
pleasant driveways and speaks sweetly and lovingly to her, as though she had 
her reason. They sent her away to a private sanitarium, but being home-sick 
without her, and feeling that, perhaps they could do as well by her, if not better 
than anyone else, they brought her back home, resolving that, if it took every 
moment and ounce of strength, their house should be her home. Every day, 
through these many years, they have prayed, and looked for a return of her 
reason to its throne ; but she is so far along in years now, that it is not likely 
that their hopes will ever be realized. But the example of their parental love 
and heroism will be more valuable than a dozen ordinary lives. 

" Another incident, similar to these two, occurs to my mind. The wife of 
a prosperous business man in Brooklyn became suddenly insane. Although her 
reason was entirely gone, she was not dangerous, and he determined to make his 
own house a sanitarium for her. As it would require one person's time to care for 
her, he determined to be that person. He sold out his business ; invested his 
money wisely so that its income would support him, and devoted his whole 
life to caring for his afflicted companion. For twenty-five years he scarcely 
pver allowed her to get out of his sight. His love for her was so intense, that 
his slavery through those years was his greatest delight. She sickened and 
died, and he pined, like a lonely mate, without her. One morning, coming 
from the provision store on the corner, old and infirm, the trolley-car caught 



242 THE SPEAKING OAK 

him, and wounded him so that he died. I was called to attend his funeral, 
when I was made conversant with the facts which I have just given you. If 
the man had lived to be as old as Methuselah, and had accumulated in his 
business the wealth of a Croesus, he could not have as much of real life 
as he had in the twenty-five years of devotion to his afflicted wife." 

Can there be any earthly thing more beautiful than the constant, heroic 
love for companion, child, parent, brother, or sister? This love, however un- 
selfish or undying, is but a hint of the love of the Infinite Father, for His afflicted 
children. However great may be their moral disabilities, however deep they 
may have plunged into the mire of bestiality, however wild may be their spir- 
itual insanity. He does not cast them from His heart, but loves them the more, 
because there is the deepest affliction and moral distemper, and the greater need 
of His help. The love of the sister, parents, and husband, for their afflicted 
loved ones, was beautiful in the comfort which was afforded the unfortunate, 
and in the splendid discipline of character to which they themselves were sub- 
jected ; but as a curative agent, it was powerless and hopeless. But the love of 
God in Christ, is remedial. It lifts the crawling brute from his hands and 
knees into superb manhood ; it cures the spiritually insane, it brings them to 
their senses. In all this sin-cursed earth, there is not a raving moral maniac 
who is incurable, if this Love be sought. 

•^ >> ^ 

ANTS TURNED INTO MEN 



AMONG the many impressive stories of the ^gean shores and sea, is that 
pertaining to the maiden yEgina, whose name was given to the island 
on which she spent her days. 

According to Grecian mythology, her beauty so overcame the great 
Jupiter, that he stole her away from those she loved, and on this barren island 
tried to make her satisfied with his devotion alone. In pity at her loneliness and 
constant supplication, Jupiter, since this rock-bound shore had no other inhabit- 
ants, turned the ants which had their busy life upon it, into men, women and 
children. 

And so out of the sorrow of ^gina, came blessing, prosperity and joy. And 
this island, once sterile and barren, became a garden of grain and flowers ; an 
elysium of palaces and vine-clad hamlets, and produced a little nation which made 
joy and goodness pastimes; and which became famous throughout the world for 
commerce and war. The nation was loyal to ^gina, the Queen, and followed 
her motto: " If life is not what you yourself had willed it, make it a blessing to 
another heart." 

Many of the fortunes of life come out of its misfortunes. By Divine power 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 243 

in answer to prayer, sorrow may be turned into joy and defeat into victory. Out 
of the smallest beginnings God usually brings the most far-searching conse- 
quences. 

rr* v» v» 

CUT THE ROPE ; SAVED HIS OWN LIFE 



!r^ 



I 



N the Alps, Professor Kotula and his brother, were once making the 
ascent, tied together, but without a guide. The professor, when trying to 
cross a fissure in the glacier, fell in. The other had only the alternative 
of falling after his brother and thus sacrificing both lives, or of freeing 
himself by cutting the rope. He chose the latter course, and the professor was 
drowned in the torrent below. 

It is terrible to have to choose between two courses, either of which leads 
to sorrow and despair. It is wise to choose while there is yet time, between the 
course that leads to honor and the course that leads to destruction. 



CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AMONG BIRDS 



A GENTLEMAN friend, who is very fond of nature, told me the following 
singular story of a hanging amongst the birds : 

" Amid the locust boughs one day, I heard much chirping and 
whistling; on a near approach I discovered that a score of feathered 
songsters, seemed making much ado about nothing. 

More close scrutiny showed one of the tribe perched in the midst of his 
fellows, with downcast head and dejected spirits. 

What the birds were saying I could not divine, but the pantomime was very 
real. After a little the magpie chatter was at an end, and the central object 
seemed more and more broken down and to deserve one's pity. 

Two simple winged messengers of the air flew over toward the stables, and 
soon came back again, bearing with them a long horse-hair of raven hue. 

The doomed bird shuddered, but never made any outcry or opposition to the 
singular proceedings. A strange scene in bird-life followed. The horse-hair was 
tightly wound around the neck of the quiet fellow and fastened to a twig on the 
tree, in which the Court had convened, then the bird was launched into the air, 
every effort to secure a foothold was baffled by a watchful sentinel, and in a little 
while the wings ceased to flutter, the limbs hung down stifif. The bird was dead, 
and its executioners flew out into the sunlight. 

Next morning the bird still hung there; after that I did not see him. 

Why he had won title to a public execution I have never learned ; we may 



244 THE SPEAKING OAK 

all conjure up difTcrent causes, but only the birds who do such things can tell." 
It may be that in this incident we have the hint of the great fact of account- 
ability which runs through all human endeavor, which Carlyle calls the shadow of 
the Judgment Day, and of the penalties of vice which threaten this life and the one 
which is to come. 



THE PRINTING ON THE COTTON POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF 



WHEN Daniel Webster was only eight years of age, he entered a country 
store, near his father's farm, to look at the pretty things, with a view of 
spending a few pennies that he had saved. He examined one thing after 
another till he found a cotton handkerchief, with printing on both ends of 
it. He took the article home, and in the evenings he spread it out on the floor 
before the fire-place, by the light of which he read the writing on the article he had 
bought. That writing was the Constitution of the United States. He read and 
studied it, until he had learned it almost by heart. A writer has said : " Forty 
years from that time came the great Hayne debate. But I would travel farther to 
see a master's picture of the lad reading the Constitution, in the rude home on the 
edge of the northern wilderness, than to see Healy's great painting of the orator 
in his senatorial debate ; as I would go farth'er to see a picture of the springs of 
the Amazon, far up under the cold white splinters of the Andes, than the most 
adequate representation of the imperial river's tropical tide." 

Webster as an old man, could be seen on the streets of Boston, wearing his 
olive-green frock coat, and having about his neck a heavy gold chain, which had 
been presented to him by the people of California. Upon the clasp of the chain 
was this inscription, " To Daniel Webster, the defender of the Constitution and 
the Advocate of the Union." On the receipt of this present, he wrote a letter, 
which contains this reference to California : " At last we have seen our country 
stretch from sea to sea, and a new highway opened across the continent from us 
to our fellow-citizens on the shore of the Pacific. Far as they have gone, they 
are yet within the protection of the Union, and ready, I doubt not, to join us all 
in its defence and support. They are pursuing a new and absorbing interest. 
While their Eastern brethren continue to be engaged in agriculture, manufactures, 
commerce, navigation and the fisheries, they are exploring a region whose wealth 
surpasses fiction. They are gathering up treasure in a manner and in a degree hith- 
erto unknown, at the feet of inaccessible mountains and along those streams ' whose 
foam is amber and their gravel gold.' Over them and over us stands the broad 
arch of the Union, and long may it stand, as firm as the arches of heaven and as 
beautiful as the bow which is set in the clouds !" 

The impressions of childhood are the strongest, and run farthest through 
an earthly life. The pocket-handkerchief on the floor may have had much 




HE SPREAD IT ON THE FLOOR BEFORE THE FIRE-PLACE 



(245) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 247 

more to do with determining the direction which the future Hfe would take than 
anyone would imagine. Its threads may have become woven into the fabric of 
his being ; the reading upon it may have become a part of the fibre of his mind. 
Childhood is the period of greatest susceptibiUty to influences good and bad; 
then the nature is like clay ready for the potter ; like metal ready for the stamp. 

How important it is that the pliant nature should be molded by the 
Divine hand into the likeness of Our Heavenly Father! How necessary that 
the image of Jesus Christ be stamped upon the face of the coin! More beauti- 
ful than the picture of a boy studying the Constitution of the United States, is 
that of the childhood of to-day studying the Word of God, whose precepts and 
principles, and inspiration will lift it up to the highest eminence, and greatest 
usefulness in this life and in the one which is to come. 



BOMBARDED THE HEAVENS IN VAIN FOR RAIN 



THE heat was so terrific, and the rains were so scarce in some of the Western 
States, one summer, that the crops were parched as though they had been 
in an oven ; the thermometer ranging from 100 to 108 degrees. The corn 
in some places seemed to be cooked on the stalk. Many prayers for rain 
pierced the heavens. Mr. W. F. Wright, of Lincoln, Nebraska, concluded to 
relieve their local distress, by bombarding the clouds and making them give down 
rain, whether or no. From one evening till five o'clock the next morning, with 
the aid of a force of men which he had secured, he kept twenty-live mortars 
shooting into the heavens. But the clouds declined to pay any attention to his 
demands. 

The failure of Mr. Wright reminds us of the extra-sensational, extra-bus- 
inesslike, and earthly methods employed by some evangelists, to bring down 
showers of divine grace upon the thirsty soil. There are cold-hearted, business- 
like, noisy, brassy-human instrumentalities sometimes employed, guaranteed to 
get up a revival at any time, for so many dollars a week. Such agencies cheapen 
religion and bring the name of revival into reproach. Patent rain-makers, with 
their extensive artillery, may promise great things, but they cannot make it 
rain. The parched earth is begging for rain ; the flowers are wilted, the corn 
leaves are twisted, the pastures are brown, the springs are dried up and the 
thirsty cattle are panting for drink. The rain comes, the garden is painted with 
lovelier hues, the com with a darker green, the springs are replenished and 
beast and man are supplied with drink ; there is plenty in the field ; there is 
joy to the farmer. This is the genuine revival ; the descent of the Holy Ghost 
upon the Church, like rain on the thirsty ground, calling up the seeds of saving 
truth into beautiful flowers and luscious fruit — the refreshing from the presence 



248 THE SPEAKING OAK 

of the Lord. The earth is parched, the gardens and fields and flocks are fam- 
ishing for drink. A black cloud promises reHef. The lightning flashes, and 
the thunders roll. The storm sweeps over, the crops are thrown on the ground 
to spoil ; there is not a drop of rain, it is only wind ; this is the so-called revival. 
The blackest cloud, with the reddest lightning and the loudest thunder, but 
only wind, with damage to field and disappointment to the farmer. These so- 
called revivals, with the plus human and minus divine, have wrought such 
spiritual harm, that some reliable churches are afraid of any kind of revival. 
Evangelists, like pastors, are of various shades of ability and grace, some 
advertise themselves like the advance agent of a circus, preach questionable 
doctrines, exhibit a prodigious ability for numbers in counting converts, com- 
plaining of the ministers of the place who do not come under their banner and 
work with their methods, blessing a town like a forest-fire does a forest; like a 
hurricane does a fleet. Other evangelists are modest, brilliant, consecrated, 
affectionate, and bring untold blessings to the Church and to the world. 



GOVERNOR ODELL'S INDUSTRY 



WITH a few exceptions, no man of his State has ever been promoted in 
official life so rapidly as Benjamin B, Odell, Jr., the able Governor of 
New York. He has qualities of mind and of heart which justify his pro- 
motion. Like almost all men who succeed he has been a hard worker. I 
called at the ice office of Newburg, N. Y., and met his father, B. B. Odell, Sr., who 
began the ice business about forty years ago, and who, by the way, is a politician 
himself, having filled the offices of Alderman, Commissioner, Sheriff, and Mayor 
of his city ten terms. I said, " Mr. Odell, I understand that your son, the 
Governor, for years got up at four o'clock and worked hard till the day's 
work was done." " Yes, that is true," he replied. I continued, " Can you 
remember any incident illustrating his fondness for work?" He said, "Yes. 
One day, Robert Phillips, who kept a store at the corner of Second and Water 
streets, in Newburg, came to me and said, ' Mr. Odell, you are making a great 
mistake in allowing your boy Ben to go on the ice wagon. He is not more 
than fourteen or fifteen years old, and lifting those large cakes of ice will 
injure him for life, I am afraid. This morning he lifted into my ice-box a 
piece no one man ought to have handled. I offer the suggestion, not as a 
complaint, but because I think so much of the boy and do not want him to get 
hurt.' At the first opportunity I called the boy to me and said, ' My son, Mr. 
Phillips thinks you are too young to go on the wagon, and that the heavy 
lifting will injure you. I have been wondering, myself, whether you were 
strong enough for the work, though you seem to be, and you have insisted all 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 249 

the time that you were.' The boy said, ' Father, it is kind in Mr. Phillips to 
take an interest in me, but do not give yourself any worry. I am a boy, but I 
am as strong as a noan, and I can do as much work as a man, and I want to 
stay on the wagon, and help you drive the business for all it is worth.' I let 
the boy stay on the wagon, and no harm came to him ; he got stronger all 
the time." 

Governor Odell has a strong mind, a liberal education, a good character, 
is a keen judge of men and has a splendid power of organization, but much of 
his success can be attributed to his enormous capacity for, and intense love of 
hard work. The genius for hard work has much to do with success in the 
spiritual as well as temporal world, in the Church as well as in the State. 



HIS WIFE'S FACE IN THE CASE OF HIS WATCH 



NAPOLEON HL had such good luck in stealing the throne of France that he 
concluded to help himself to all the territory he could lay his hands upon. 
During the anarchy of the civil war in Mexico, foreign subjects were mis- 
treated and England, France and Spain sent a fleet to Mexico to demand 
satisfaction. England and Spain were satisfied with the treaty made, but Napo- 
leon left his army in the territory, and in 1862 declared war on the government of 
Juarez and overthrew the republic. A year after, he persuaded Maximilian, Arch- 
duke of Austria, to act as Emperor of Mexico. Having put one hand on so much 
American territory, he reached the other out after a part of the United States. 
But for the timely interference of Albert and Victoria, his arrangement with 
several nations of Europe, to declare war on the United States, and divide up 
the territory, would have been carried out. The American Government was 
not so nearly dead as he thought it was. General Grant told Napoleon's army 
to get out of Mexico, and it got out, and the Mexican Empire collapsed. Poor 
Maximilian was captured. When he took the throne, he threatened to shoot 
any who adhered to the republic, and in many instances he made his threat 
good. The tables were now turned and it was the people's turn to do some 
shooting, and they condemned him to die June 19, 1867. As the condemned 
Emperor stood before a file of Mexican soldiers at Queretaro, he took out 
his watch, which he would never more need, and pressing a spring revealed in 
its case a miniature of the lovely Empress Charlotte, which he kissed tenderly. 
Then, handing the watch to the priest at his side, he said, " Carry this souvenir 
to my dear wife in Europe, and if she be ever able to understand you, say that 
my eyes closed with the impression of her image, which I shall carry with me 
above." When the watch reached her it found her insane from her sorrow, 
and she was under the impression that she was still Empress of Mexico, and 



250 THE SPEAKING OAK 

that her husband was away leading a victorious army, and would return to her 
and his throne. The young adventurer paid for his folly with his life and her 
reason, but their love for each other was beautiful in the extreme. 

Our love for the Saviour should prompt us to keep His picture where 
the eye will see it most, or better, to keep the original in the locket of the heart. 

^ ^ ^ 

GRANT AND THE COLT 



U' EYSSES GRANT, when a boy, took a fancy to a colt in the neighborhood, 
and begged his father to let him buy him. His father hesitated, but the 
boy was so anxious about it that he gave his consent. His father told 
him to get it for about twenty dollars if possible ; if not, for twenty-two 
and a half, and if necessary to go as high as twenty-five. 

Ulysses went over to the house of the neighbor, and said, " I want to buy 
that colt." " What will you give me for him ? " The boy replied, " Father 
said I was to ofTer you twenty dollars for him, and that if you would not take 
that to ofTer you twenty-two fifty, and if you would not take that for me to give 
you twenty-five." The man smiled as he said, " I will not let him go for a 
cent less than twenty-five." It was the sting of ridicule that this trade pro- 
duced that made Grant cautious about revealing the prophecy of military 
greatness that he had in his bosom. Grant, though passionately fond of horses 
and a splendid rider, was a poor horse trader, a poor farmer outside of Saint 
Louis, a poor storekeeper in Galena, Illinois, a poor dealer in stocks in Wall 
street, but one of the greatest generals the world ever saw. Some are born 
to make money and some to lead an army. It is important for the individual 
and for society that each man follow the calling for which he is best adapted. 



DRESSED FOR THE KING'S PALACE 



REV. WILLIAM S. AMENT, in speaking of the terrible losses sustained 
by the massacre of native Christians in Pekin, and of the heroism of the 
martyred saints, tells this beautiful incident: 

'"■ There was a man named Hsieh, past fifty years of age, who was an 
opium devotee at the time he was converted. He at once sold his two opium 
dens, and became a Gospel preacher at his own expense. When he heard that 
the Boxers were coming for him, he dressed in his best clothes. The 
Boxers arrived, and hurried him away to the palace of Prince Chuang, who 
had insisted on having all victims brought before him prior to their execution. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 251 

* Why did you put on your best clothes ?' they asked him. ' Because I thought 
I should be taken to the palace of my King,' answered the staunch Christian. 
They cut off his head, and then they tore out his heart, to find out, if they could, 
how he got so much courage." 

It is believed that at least thirty thousand native Christians were killed 
by the Boxers during the recent troubles in China, any one of whom would 
have been spared if he had been willing to deny his Lord. That they did not 
do so, but freely gave up their lives for the One who died for them, is an evi- 
dence of the power of our religion, and a new inspiration to those who live 
to labor in God's cause, and especially to spread his truth in heathen lands. 
All of the thirty thousand martyred ones were clad in their most beautiful gar- 
ments — raiment washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb — as they 
ascended to the palace of their King. And, robed in the garments of Christ's 
righteousness, they are seated with their Saviour on his throne, " heirs of God 
and joint heirs with Christ." 

If the Boxers had only possessed keener eyesight, when they cut out 
the heart of Hsieh, to find the secret of his courage, they would have discovered 
Christ in its centre. The secret of every Christian's courage, service, and vic- 
tory is the presence of Christ in the centre of his soul. 

V* V* ^* 

THE MIMICRY OF LIFE 

HE mimicry of life is not so marvelous as the mystery of life. The crowd 
before the window in New York listening to the music-box which mimics 
the songs of birds, is attracted by the golden case and the feathered forms 
within so cleverly imitating the movements of life; and it gazes in rapt 
admiration at the poses and flutterings of the ingenious toys, marveling at the skill 
which can produce such prodigies, and speculating about the mechanism employed. 
But the homely sparrows, chirruping their common notes in the gutter behind 
the crowd, conceal a mystery far more fascinating and profound. No human 
being, however learned, ever yet discovered the source of their movements or 
of their songs. Life exists all about us, and in our own bodies, but we cannot 
find it. The keenest scalpel is not keen enough ; the most powerful microscope 
fails to discover what it is or where it has its seat. Life is beyond the highest 
art and the deepest science. " Dead machines survive " the earthly lives of 
their masters ; and a power-loom at Lowell, a watch at Waterbury, a pin- 
machine at Ansonia, or a phonograph at Orange, may seem instinct with intel- 
ligence ; but none of them posesses life, and no human ingenuity can impart to 
any of its creations that mighty and mysterious force. 

The ignoble nobleman may practise the arts of politeness without being a 




252 THE SPEAKING OAK 

gentleman ; the nn-Christian may go through his rehgious observances without 
having any reHgion. In the show^ v^indov^s of the church there are some stuffed 
birds and monkeys who are wound up on springs to perform, who have not a par- 
ticle of spiritual life in them ; and tlie people know that they are not real. 



NARROW ESCAPE OF A MINER 



i^ 



I 



N talking with Rev. S. Parkes Cadman, D. D., about providential escapes 
from danger, he related to me the following incidents connected with 
his personal history : 

" There is an old saying that ' a man is immortal till his work is done.' 
How true this is may be questioned, but it has always been a sort of conviction 
with me, and I found myself acting upon it as a working faith when I was in 
moments of peril. During my life as a miner these moments were frequent, 
for mining is a dangerous business. But I always believed I should live to 
preach the Gospel ; even when I was not yet a Christian, this impression stayed 
with me. On one occasion, the chain in which I was sitting to ascend a deep 
shaft, slipped up my body and caught under my shoulders. The caretaker at 
the surface was absent from the mouth of the pit, and did not hear my shouts 
as I swung higher and higher yet into space, afraid to let go, and knowing it 
was certain death to hold on. But the thoughts I have mentioned above flashed 
into my mind. They took the form of a certain Scripture which says, ' Thou 
shalt not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.' 

" While dangling over the fearful abyss, with the slimy fetters, all muddy 
and damp, slowly moving beyond my effectual grasp, I knew I should not perish. 
I heard the man return, and the engines were stopped. I was lowered back 
fully two hundred feet, faint and exhausted, but safe. 

" On another occasion, I was sitting under the timbered spaces which uphold 
the rock and shale roofing the coal. Everything seemed perfectiy secure, but 
suddenly some monition within me said, ' Get away from here ! ' It came so 
unexpectedly and yet distinctly, it was as though a voice had audibly spoken. 
I did not obey at first, and tried to reason away my desire to leave. But it 
would not be put down. More imperatively still I felt, move I must, and I 
walked thirty feet to the rear. I had scarcely halted, when, without the slightest 
creak or jar, the whole place caved in. There was running overhead a fissure 
in the strata which threw all the ponderous mass on the timbers, and they gave 
way. My faithful horse was buried and killed, and for forty-eight hours the 
workmen were busy removing the debris. * We never hoped to find you alive,' 
said one of the miners. ' Nor should I have been,' I replied, ' but for the 
providence of God.' 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 253 

" As I reflect upon these and other circumstances of deliverance in my 
youthful days, I am constrained to beHeve in the overwatching providence of 
God." 

Almost every minister, man and woman of faith, has had experiences similar 
to those related by Dr. Cadman. 

^• v» v» 

WHAT A HINDOO GIRL SUFFERED FOR CHRIST 



A 



T a meeting in behalf of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, Miss 
Stevens, a returned missionary, from Madras, India, made an address. 
By her side in native costume sat a young Hindoo woman of high caste, 
by the name of Soonboonagan Ammal. Referring to the Hindoo girl, 
Miss Stevens said, " At ten years of age she was married. The priests refused to 
let her read the Bible, but insisted that she should keep her eyes and heart upon the 
twenty-five pictures and fifty images of the gods she had in her room. She said 
three thousand prayers every day and six thousand on Fridays. Every week from 
Friday evening at 6 o'clock till 6 o'clock Saturday morning, she stood in the 
temple before the gods with clasped hands. Young as she was she had made 
the journey to Benares, and had thrown her father's sacred bones into the 
Ganges. None of this worship gave her any satisfaction. She became a con- 
vert to Christianity by hearing the Bible read. Instantly her family began to 
persecute her. The girl gave up her home and her treasures of precious stones, 
and six years ago she walked into our schoolroom in Madras, and said, ' God 
has sent me as a Christmas gift to you.' The girl's family tried to get the 
English soldiers to arrest me for taking the child. They offered her the cost- 
liest jewels, and a finer house if she would return, but she refused. They now 
declared her an outcast, and called on the gods to curse her. Then they 
counted her dead and held a funeral service for her for eleven days. An effigy 
of the girl was made of the sacred leaves of the Ganges and placed on the 
funeral pyre. The husband was married to another girl, and the mother went 
to the Ganges, a journey of a thousand miles, and stood in the sacred river for 
days to purify herself of the stain of having a daughter become a Christian." 
After Miss Stevens had spoken, the Hindoo woman arose, and sang sweetly, 
" Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee." Then in good 
English, she spoke briefly, saying, " All I have given up for Christ I count as 
nothing when I think of what he gave up for me, and of what he has given 
to me. I love him with all my heart and intend to serve him all my life, 
and give myself up to the work of bringing the women of my native land to 
a knowledge of the same Saviour." The sacrifices this Hindoo girl endured 
for her Master appear in marked contrast to the little so many of us are willing 
to do or suffer for the Christ who has died for us. 




254 THE SPEAKING OAK 

THE KING AND THE ANT HILL 

N the poem of Whittier, " King Solomon and the Ants," we have the pic- 
ture of the Queen of Sheba and the wise King of Israel, riding in state 
through the realm. In the path of the company was an ant-hill, peopled 
with the little insects. The king, by his knowledge of the languages of 
all, heard the ants complaining that the one whom men called good and great, was 
coming to crush them under his feet. The king repeated this to the queen, who 
exclaimed, that such a fate was a happy one, and that no better one need be 
expected. But Solomon turned his horse aside, and the entire train followed 
in the path of the leader, curved around the ant-hill and left it untouched. The 
queen saw the secret of Solomon's greatness in this, and said: 

" Happy must be the state 
Whose ruler heedeth more 
The murmurs of the poor 
Than flatteries of the great." 

In earlier centuries it used to be thought that the common people were 
good for little else than to become the slaves of royalty, the conveniences of 
wealth and the targets of war; that the poor were only ants in their hills over 
which the wheels of the king's chariot might pass. Jesus Christ effected a won- 
derful change in the sentiment of the world on the subject. Time was when 
the object of government was to minister to the rulers, now it is to minister to 
the happiness and prosperity of those ruled. He is counted the greatest king, 
who has at heart the welfare of the humblest of his people, who will turn his 
chariot wheel lest it crush the weakest or smallest of the subjects of his realm. 

He is most like his Master, who has the badge of the only real royalty, 
whose heart is in sympathy with God's dumb creatures and with his poor. 

v» v« v* 

A HERO WITH HIS FACE TO THE FOE 



HAVING learned of a medal which, a few years ago, had been awarded to 
Colonel Thomas W. Bradley, for especial valor under the fire of the 
enemy, I went to Walden, N. Y., to see the gentleman and learn some- 
thing about his brave act. I found him in the office of his large knife 
manufactory, situated on the bank of the beautiful Walkill. He had his coat off, 
his sleeves rolled up, and a mechanic's apron on, and was as hard at work over 
his table as any day-laborer could possibly be. I said to him : " Colonel, tell 
me something about that act of bravery for which you received a Congressional 
medal." He searched through a dozen pigeon-holes, until he found a bundle of 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 255 

papers, which he handed to me, saying, " I would rather let others talk about that 
act of mine, nearly forty years ago, than to do so myself." I took the papers, and 
copied from them a few facts, which I desired to record. John R. Hayes says: 
" At the battle of Chancellorsville, Va., on Sunday, May 3, 1863, I was Lieutenant, 
commanding a company of the 124th Regiment, of Pratt's Brigade, Whipple's 
Division, Sickle's Third Army Corps. The regiment supported a battery lo- 
cated west of the Chancellorsville House, south of and at right angles with the 
plank road, and facing west toward Van Wert's farm. It then moved north 
across the plank road and across an easterly branch of Lewis Run or creek, 
and in line of battle withstood a flanking assault of a portion of Iverson's Bri- 
gade, of Jackson's Second Army Corps of the Confederate Army. The regi- 
ment here lost half of its number, killed or wounded, and practically exhausted 
its ammunition before being recalled to a point on the level, near Chancellors- 
ville House, from which place it charged with the bayonet and retook the posi- 
tion formerly occupied by the battery. Being out of ammunition, and the posi- 
tion being untenable, the regiment fell back, under a galling fire, to just east of 
the Chancellorsville House, near a new line, to which our Division had been 
forced. The Confederate batteries were shelling the Chancellorsville House, 
and raking the plain and turnpike with grape and canister, making the spot 
a very warm one, and causing the men of our regiment to hug the ground 
closely. At this time, Colonel A. Van Horn Ellis, of our regiment, was con- 
served for want of ammunition, and, there being some boxes of it in sight, 
lashed to the backs of a group of dead mules, distant about five hundred yards 
to the right front, between the lines, he spoke of making a detail to go for it, 
but hesitated about doing so because of the hazardous undertaking. Then 
Thomas W. Bradley, aged eighteen years, a corporal of my command, volun- 
teered for the special service, and divesting himself of his arms and accoutre- 
ments, went out between the lines amid a heavy fire of shell, canister, and scat- 
tering rifle-shots, across the plain, to where the ammunition boxes lay, and, in 
safety, returned with all the ammunition he could carry. Thomas W. Bradley 
enlisted in my Company as a private on August 12, 1862, at the age of only 
seventeen years. He was seriously wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863 ; was 
severely wounded at the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and again wounded in the 
right hip at the battle of Boynton Road, near Petersburg, October 27, 1864." 

Lieutenant Thomas Hart, of Company A, of the same regiment, also 
describes the act of bravery, making this additional mention : " At the hottest 
part of the return, Bradley was seen to turn, and, facing the enemy's line, 
rapidly walk backward ; being questioned later in regard to this, he replied, * I 
felt sure of getting hit, and wanted the stroke in front instead of in my back.' " 

Major-General Daniel E. Sickles, in a letter to Hon. Daniel S. Lamont, 
Secretary of War, dated New York, April 4, 1896, says : " The gallantry and 
ability of Captain Bradley were well known to me, and were highly appreciated 



256 THE SPEAKING OAK 

by his commanding officer, the accompHshed Colonel Ellis, who fell at the head 
of his regiment. The incident of the supply of ammunition obtained by Brad- 
ley in the face of a terrible fire from the enemy — the only man who volunteered 
to get it, was reported to me at the time. It seems to me that this is distinctly one 
of the signal acts of devotion, courage and heroism, contemplated in the Act 
of Congress, authorizing these medals of honor, and that Bradley is w^orthy, 
both as a soldier and a citizen, to wear it." 

Turning to the colonel, I said : " It is not necessary for you to mention 
with your lips what you have spoken so eloquently by your action, and while 
you have such faithful witnesses to speak in your honor." 

I said, " Your regiment was the ' Orange Blossoms,' was it not ? " He said 
that is was. I remarked that it was a great honor to have been a soldier in that 
brave regiment. "How about those wounds?" I asked. "Do they hurt you 
any ?" " Yes, some, but I count it a pleasure and honor to have received them 
in the defense of my country." 

Getting the ammunition on that bloody field was a brave act, which de- 
served the medal, but that bravery reached a sublime pitch of heroism when 
the boy of eighteen, expecting to be killed, turned his face to the enemy, unwilling 
to be shot in the back. 

In the Christian warfare, there are more men of the corporal's bravery 
needed — men who will stand up with their faces to the enemy, every time. 
Satan must certainly laugh in his sleeve at the cowardice of some Soldiers of 
the Cross, who, at the firing of the first gun of the enemy, take to their heels 
and leave the field of battle as quickly as possible. " Are there no foes for 
me to face?" 



A HEART BROKEN BY THE HAMMER OF AFFLICTION 



I 



i r * J 



WAS once called upon to attend the funeral of a woman, whose husband 
had a prosperous business in New York. She had a comfortable home, 
happy children, and the gratification of every earthly hope ; she was a true 
Christian, and after a lingering illness she passed to her reward. Her 
mother, who was not a Christian, was heartbroken at the death of her child, and 
as rebellious as she was heartbroken, at the Providence. In my presence, she 
expressed great wonder that God should take such a creature as her daughter, 
so valuable in her life, and so much needed in her home ; and then she burst 
into anger, and into open complaint against God, and declared that she would 
ever after hold a grudge against him. I had never heard such talk before, and the 
cold chills fairly came over me as I listened to it. 

A few years passed by and another sorrow came upon her. She had a son, 
who was handsome, bright in intellect, kind in heart, and correct in his habits. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 257 

He was ambitious to master a learned profession. In order to do so, it was 
necessary for him to earn the money for his technical instruction, which he did 
by employment in New York City. On the threshold of his profession, this 
manly man, splendidly equipped for his life-work, sank down with a lingering 
disease ; and, though he went to the mountains of the far West, and availed him- 
self of every possible remedy, he died. At first, stunned with the grief, the 
poor mother seemed beside herself in her sorrow, and the wickedness of her 
rebellion against divine Providence. But this second stroke of God's hammer 
had done its work ; it had broken her heart. She became quiet and resigned to 
the will of her Heavenly Father. The spirits of the departed brought the heaven 
they had entered, and the Saviour whose glory they had seen back to their 
mother, and she gave her heart to Christ ; made a public profession of her love 
for him, and became a devoted member of the church. 

Few are as daring in their rebellion against God's dealings with them as 
this mother, but many find it dif^cult to submit to the Divine Will, especially 
when loved ones are taken, but such a surrender brings the sweetest joy on the 
wickedest life. The hammer of Christ's Cross broke the woman's heart, but 
the softening of it by the tears was a good preparation 



SNAGS AND SUCCESS 



MR. EDISON being asked on what lines electrical investigation will be pur- 
sued in the future, answered, " On chemical lines decidedly. It is in this 
direction that a man should work to anticipate the future. The great 
discoveries of the past have been in the line of chemistry. Chemistry is 
closely related to electricity, but it is sadly neglected because of the diflBculties en- 
countered. I find that electrical investigation is one long course of snags. A 
man does not have to look out for them ; they are always cropping up. There are, 
I should say, about two hundred and fifty snags to every new fact." 

The boy, Thomas Edison, struck one of these snags when the angry con- 
ductor threw him ofif the train, and boxed his ears so savagely as to damage 
his hearing for life. But he took his chemicals to the cellar of his father's 
house in Port Huron, Mich., and continued his experiments. The daughter 
of the local telegraph operator was about to be killed by a train, when the 
discharged newsboy, at the risk of his own life, rescued her from danger, and 
the father, in gratitude for the heroic act, took the saviour of his child into his 
office and taught him telegraphy. With his appetite for chemistry and elec- 
tricity, he would have struck a wire sooner or later and learned to work it, but 
it so happened that his act of heroism was his introduction to that wide field 
where he has wrought such wonders, and secured such benefits for mankind. 



258 THE SPEAKING OAK 

The young man, Thomas Edison, struck another snag. While a telegraph 
operator, in Indianapolis, Ind., he was experimenting with his chemicals, when 
he knocked over a huge jug of sulphuric acid, which soon eat through the 
floor and the carpet of the president's room, destroying the furnishings and 
some of the instruments. He was promptly discharged. The poor young man, 
on a winter day, in a linen duster and straw hat, started to walk to Louisville, 
Ky., a distance of more than a hundred miles, where he secured another posi- 
tion as telegraph operator. 

All through his life, in the laboratory and in his business ventures, Mr. 
Edison has met obstacles which have caused him close study, hard v/ork, and 
much trouble, but he has overcome most of them, and has wealth, honor, and 
the consciousness of a singularly useful hfe. 

*' Two hundred and fifty snags to every new fact," would perhaps be the 
testimony of the inventors of the world if they were to be interrogated. The 
snags are the challenges to keener thought and greater labor. 

No one succeeds in any occupation or enterprise in Hfe who does not tri- 
umph over obstacles, and profit by many failures. The hindrances are the 
things that give the greatest value to success. 

The religious life is full of snags. As Edison says they do not have to be 
searched for, they are popping up everywhere. Disagreeable, troublesome, even 
dangerous, though they be, they serve a good purpose or they would not be 
scattered so thickly in our pathway. They develop caution, wdsdom, energy, 
enterprise, courage and reliance on Divine power. They are the things that 
make a high type of Christian manhood or womanhood possible. They are the 
things that make us skillful navigators on the sea of life, and will enable us to 
appreciate the calmness and security of the harbor on the other side. 

^ ^ ^» 

CLEVELAND BELIEVES IN THE RELIGION OF HIS MOTHER 

jR. JOHN WESLEY BROWN, who died while rector of St. Thomas' 
Protestant Episcopal Church, of New York City, told me one day of a 
conversation which he had had with Grover Cleveland while President of 
the United States. He said that Mr. Cleveland remarked that he had the 
most unfaltering faith in the religion of his mother, and that he intended to be 
guided by it as long as he should live. The day he was elected Governor of New 
York, Mr. Cleveland wrote a letter to his brother, which says, among other things, 
" I have just voted, and I sit here in the ofifice alone. If mother were alive I should 
be writing to her. Do you know that if mother were alive I should feel so much 
safer. I have always thought that her prayers had so much to do with my success. 
I shall expect you to help me in that way." 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 259 

In these days of doubt about some of the doctrines of the Bible, it was 
rather gratifying to hear Mr. Cleveland, in his tribute to Mr, McKinley, ex- 
press such positive faith in the resurrection of the body. It seems that the 
theology of his father's sermons, as well as the simple piety of his mother, 
had made a deep impression on his life. A young man will come out at the 
end, at about the right place, who will take the Bible and the religion of his 
father and mother for his guide. 

^. ^. ^ 

THE CHARITY OF FREDERICK III. 



THE sensibilities of Frederick III., not only went out in daily acts of kind- 
ness, but they poured through great channels of benevolence, making him 
one of the great philanthropists, as well as generals and scholars of his 
country. At his wedding reception, in his father's palace, at Berlin, 
costly presents came from all parts of the realm. And he took these presents and 
with them founded hospitals, asylums and scholarships. On the day Dueppel was 
taken, Frederick's father decorated his breast with the sword of the Red Eagle. 
But he lost sight of the nation's glory, of his own promotion, in his sympathy for 
the suffering. That same day, he immortalized his memory by founding the 
Crown Prince Institute, a school for the instruction of the children of deceased 
soldiers. Besides, he and his wife gave liberally for the benefit of the widows and 
orphans of the soldiers that fell in the war with Denmark. At the time all 
Germany was wild with enthusiasm at the overthrow of Napoleon III., the 
Crown Prince was thinking of the wounds of the Fatherland. On September 
6, 1870, he issued a proclamation asking for an institution for the relief of the 
sufferers by the war. In 1883, on the occasion of their silver wedding, the citi- 
zens of Berlin gave Frederick and Victoria, a vessel containing two hundred 
thousand dollars in gold, which, like the presents received twenty-five years 
before, they set apart as an endowment for charities. 

It is not a surprise that a man of such affections, and such practical benev- 
olence should be universally popular. His ability and heroism on the field 
commanded the respect of the soldiers, while his familiar and tender treatment 
of them won their love. In his love for his soldiers, and in their love for him 
in return, he was much like Cato, the Younger, whom he resembles in many 
particulars. Cato's soldiers fairly worshiped him, and when his commission 
expired, they cried like children and embraced him. And they took off their 
garments and spread them on the ground to carpet the path of their chief, and 
tenderly kissed his hand. This affection, the army of Germany always had for 
Frederick, and at his death he was the pride — the idol of two millions of soldiers. 
His manliness, his generosity, his distinguished services to the State, made him 



26o THE SPEAKING OAK 

as popular with citizens as with soldiers. His love for the common people, 
his liberal ideas of government, that excited criticism of a small circle of conserv- 
atives, aided him greatly in winning the heart of a nation. One of his subjects 
offered to die instead of his royal master, offered to have his larynx cut out 
and placed in the neck of his monarch, if by so doing his life could be pro- 
longed. The surgeon replied that such an operation could not be successful, 
and that the sacrifice would not be accepted. The Emperor was loved by man- 
kind everywhere. He was almost as popular in England as he was in his own 
country. And the Austrians and French, whom he did so much to humiliate 
and defeat with his sword, vie with the Germans in regard for his memory. 



WHALERS WHO MISSED A VALUABLE PRIZE 



AN inhabitant of Lemoine, Me., tells the following story: 
The fishing schooner, Squantum, Captain William Parslow, had 
come in from the Grand Bank of Newfoundland with cod. 

Captain David Parslow, of this port, an ex-whaler, brother of the 
skipper of the Squantum and principal owner, was inspecting the craft after her 
arrival and in the fo'castle detected the odor of the precious product of the sea, 
ambergris. He traced the odor to a pair of sea boots belonging to one of the crew, 
and upon diligent inquiry evolved the fact that, without doubt, at one time on 
the Squantum's last trip a mass of ambergris worth at least $5,000 was alongside 
the little old schooner, and was allowed to go adrift because the crew were igno- 
rant of its value, and, furthermore, that a " sample " that had been saved, and 
that was worth at least $100, had been used as a lubricant for the boots of one 
of the crew. 

James Perkins, first hand and head splitter of the Squantum, tells the fol- 
lowing story : 

" One night on the Virgin Rocks ' Bill ' Jason, who was up in the bow, 
sung out that there was something drifting down on us. We thought first 
that it was a dead body or something, but when it came alongside we saw that 
it was a junk of something as big as a bait cask, or bigger — looked like tallow, 
only it was a dark grayish color, mottled with white in streaks. It had a pow- 
erful smell — sickish, sweetlike. 

" We had a line round it and set out to call the skipper, but he was snoozin' 
and we thought it wasn't best to get him riled up about nothing, and so, after 
Oliver Eaton had cut out a junk big enough to fill a baking-powder tin, we let 
the stuff go adrift again. 

" Oliver made an awful smell with the stuff a'greasin' his boots in the 
fo'castle and we made him move them out. Oliver said it wasn't very good 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 261 

grease anyway — wouldn't give a pint of neat's foot oil for a ton of the stuff." 
As they navigate the sea of life, men, either through ignorance or sheer 
carelessness, are constantly permitting the most valuable prizes to drift away 
from them, while they spend their time and strength in securing treasures that are 
trifling in comparison with them. They spend years in search of live whales, 
which would not be nearly so valuable as the product of the dead one, which 
they allow to float away from them. They hunt for cheap game, and permit 
the five thousand dollars' worth of flavoring perfume to pass by them unheeded. 
Poor human nature is continually preferring the material to the spiritual, the 
temporal to the eternal. 

V* ^ ^* 

PRAYER SAVED THE BESIEGED IN PEKIN 



FlEW times in the history of this world have there been so many or earnest 
^ prayers ofifered to God as those in behalf of the besieged in Pekin. Those 

3BB within prayed as well as watched and fought, and the civilized world sent 
up one united prayer for their deliverance. At times the imprisoned ones 
felt that there was almost no hope for their rescue, and up to the day that help came 
they did not know what moment the Chinese might make a successful rush 
upon them, or explode a mine beneath them and send them into eternity. So 
many providential things occurred during the siege that the Christians came to 
believe that God would somehow save them. At the time a furious gale was 
blowing a fire was started that threatened to destroy all the buildings of the 
legation, and in a moment of time the fierce wind ceased. There were only 
eight hundred foreigners, and it was seriously debated whether it was safe to share 
the protection of the legation with the native Christians; but the missionaries 
were unwilling to be saved and leave the converts to die, and without the help 
of these native Christians it is likely the besieged would not have been able to 
hold out. The wells were low, but four thousand drank from them in the day- 
time, and at night the Lord filled them up so that the next day the four thousand 
were refreshed again, and the process of replenishing continued till the day of 
the rescue. There was the unexpected discovery of supplies of food and of 
material for bags for the fortifications. In these and in many others things 
God's interposing hand seemed to be so manifest, that the imperilled ones came 
to believe that God intended to save them from slaughter. During the siege 
texts of Scripture were used as an encouragement to faith. One day, Mrs. 
Arthur Smith handed Dr. Martin a text which she said Mrs. Conger had taken 
from her daily reading as an appropriate one for the day. Dr. Martin tacked it 
up at the gate-house. It was II. Corinthians i : 8-1 1. " We would not, brethren, 
have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed 
out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But 



262 THE SPEAKING OAK 

we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, 
but in God which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and 
doth deliver : in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. Ye also helping 
together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of 
many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf." 

Christian people throughout the civilized world and many who do not pub- 
licly profess Christ, firmly believe that God came in answer to prayer and saved 
the besieged ones in Pekin. 

^» V* ^• 

WASHINGTON'S LOVE FOR THE POOR 



THE benevolent disposition of Washington was illustrated in a letter which 
he wrote from his headquarters during the Revolutionary War to the 
manager of his farms at home. The letter is as follows : " Let the hos- 
pitality of the house, with respect to the poor, be kept up. Let no one go 
hungry away. If any of this kind of people should be in want of corn, supply their 
necessities, provided it does not encourage them in idleness; and I have no objec- 
tion to you giving my money in charity, to the amount of forty or tifty pounds a 
year when you think it well bestowed. What I mean by having no objection is, 
that it is my desire that it should be done. You are to consider that neither myself 
nor my wife is now in the way to do these good offices. In all other respects I 
recommend it to you, and have no doubt of your observing the greatest economy 
and frugality ; as I suppose you know, that I do not get a farthing for my services 
here, more than my expenses. It becomes necessary, therefore, for me to be 
saving at home." 

Washington w^as great as a general and as a statesman ; he was greater still 
as a man, in his sense of rectitude, in his reverence for God, and love for his 
fellow men. 

The poor we have always with us, and there are perpetual opportunities 
and reasons for practical benevolence. 



THE BOY-OFFICER WILLIAM McKINLEY 



R. MARK L. NAI^YZ, a retired army surgeon, who lives in Kansas City, 
Missouri, though an Italian, was given the name of the " Flying Dutch- 
man," by General Grant ; as a member of Grant's staflf, he showed such 
courage and swiftness in carrying despatches, that the General called 
him by that name. While brigade surgeon. Dr. Nardyz saw very much of the 
boy-oi^cer, William McKinley, and for three years was his intimate acquaintance. 
He speaks thus of his friend: 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 263 

" The young major seemed to be very religious. This fact impressed me 
very much, as well as the deference shown him by the men on this account. In 
the three years we were together I never saw Major McKinley drink a drop of 
liquor or heard him use a profane word. That is a difficult thing to do when a 
man is thrown into the rough life of the army. 

" It was not at Antietam that President McKinley distinguished himself, for 
his regiment had no chance to do anything there. It was at Gettysburg. His 
name is always associated in my mind with Gettysburg, and a magnificent 
charge on a stone wall in a hollow before Cemetery Hill. There is where 
the young, smooth major showed the true qualities of a soldier, and the men 
who were alive after that charge felt a new regard and increased respect for 
the man who did not swear or drink, but was as cool and collected as the oldest 
veteran. 

" Our brigade was assigned to the Sixth Army Corps, which was com- 
manded by General Hooker. I will never forget the incidents of the long 
march from Cincinnati down through Virginia and up into Pennsylvania. That 
was in 1862. When we started, Colonel Keppler was in command of the Ohio 
regiment, but Major McKinley, it seemed, assumed the special duty of looking 
after the condition of the men. He was an ideal officer, calm always, and 
kindly in his manner. The first real battle McKinley's regiment was in was at 
Antietam, but for some reason it was held in reserve and did not get much to do. 
This disappointed the future President. But his turn soon came. Our corps 
became part of Meade's army, sent to check Lee, who was threatening to invade 
Pennsylvania. The history of the battle of Gettysburg is well known, but the 
part of which I remember most was the attack of the left wing, of which our 
brigade formed a part. I can see the stone wall in the hollow behind which 
the Confederates lay. The order came to charge, and then the roar was terrific. 
Sheets of flame came from behind the wall, but our men got over it. Smoke 
was everywhere, and through it could occasionally be seen the calm, set face of 
the boy-like major. No excitement or agitation was visible in those features. 
He was always the same. Colonel Keppler was killed and Major McKinley 
took command of what was left of the Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteers. That 
was not much. The men came from around Canton, Niles, and Cleveland, and 
many of them fell. This was where McKinley won special mention for his 
bravery. He became known as one of the most distinguished officers in the 
Ohio volunteers. His men idolized him." 

The home of the boy, William McKinley, had not wealth nor social pre- 
tense, but it had things more important — honesty, virtue, affection, moral in- 
struction and religious training. And when the boy went out into the army 
to meet as terrible temptations as ever assailed mortals, he was enabled to stand 
firm as a rock, and in all the struggles and temptations which beset a man in 
political life, he maintained his moral principles to the last. His political ene- 



264 THE SPEAKING OAK 

mies, as well as his friends, paying the warmest tributes to the correctness of 
his habits, to the purity of his life. The boy-major, who stood straight as an 
arrow before God and man, preserved the same uprightness of character till 
the assassin's bullet laid him low. 

Major McKinley was not only careful of his moral habits, but he was 
genuinely religious in his soul. He was not ashamed to let it be known to all 
his comrades in the army that he was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and 
determined to maintain the honor of his name, and to the day of his death he 
was a brave, loyal and efficient soldier of the Cross of Jesus Christ. 

Young men who are looking to success in public life, need not think that 
it is necessary to surrender principles or yield to the temptations that line so 
thickly the avenues of political life, or to conceal their religious faith and ex- 
perience. A firm, religious faith better equips a public officer for his grave 
responsibility, and a consistent Christian life has a tendency to bring to him 
increased public favor. 



LINCOLN'S LETTER TO A BEREAVED MOTHER 



PRESIDENT LINCOLN, hearing that a mother had given five sons to the 
Union army, and that all of them had been killed on the battlefield, 
wrote her the following letter of sympathy: 

"Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. 21, 1864. 
" To Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Mass. 

" Dear Madam — I have been shown, in the files of the War Department, a 
statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of 
five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. 

" I feel hov/ weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which shall attempt 
to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain 
from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the 
Republic they died to save. 

" I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your be- 
reavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, 
and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon 
the altar of freedom. 

" Yours very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln." 

The autograph original of the above letter is said to be owned by the 
London Historical Society, and that it is prized by that organization, not alone for 
its purity of sentiment, but as a bit of the best English composition known. 

Where could human heart seem more tender, or faith in the Divine Heart 
more strong, than in these lines of the martyred President. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 265 

THE BOY WHO COULD SEE NOTHING BUT FLOWERS 



A POOR clergyman at Rashhalt, Sweden, found himself possessed of a son 
who was the cause of much grief and great mortification to the worthy- 
man, from his inability and unwillingness to pursue the learned studies 
then in vogue. Of musty books he would have none; Nature was the 
only book he would attend to, and botany alone received his earnest attention. 

Finding all his efforts useless, the pastor sent his son away to school ; but 
he found to his sorrow, that matters had mended so little, that the teachers ad- 
vised him finally to apprentice the youth to a shoemaker or tailor, as he would 
never be fit for anything better. 

The discouraged father tried other institutions, but it was the same story 
everywhere ; nothing could be said against the moral character of his son, but 
he could not acquire any knowledge, except such useless sort as related to 
plants and flowers and the like, or in poring over such books as touched upon 
those subjects. 

Finally, the father gave up the attempt to educate his son, and we find the 
latter taking matters thereafter in his own hands, and turning up eventually at 
the University of Upsala, where he devoted himself almost exclusively to his 
favorite study. At that period, botany was about the most unpromising pur- 
suit that one could select; indeed, the science was almost entirely neglected, so 
that during the entire stay of the young man at the college, he never heard a 
public lecture on the subject. Arriving at the university, the young man 
studied ardently at botany; all such works as were obtainable he devoured, and 
then there was the great Book of Nature, everywhere waiting for him. They 
were very trying times, those, to the youth ; he was extremely poor, and suf- 
fered from every privation. The pangs of hunger vv^ere frequent visitors indeed ; 
for much of this period he was indebted to generosity for food. His clothes 
were in the most dilapidated condition, and so full of holes were his shoes, 
that he stuffed paper in the openings to protect his feet. Yet none of these 
things deterred the student, nor for one moment did he think of giving up his 
loved pursuit, but in spite of all, the days, and indeed most of the nights, 
were given up to study, so that each day he was accumulating an enormous 
store of botanical knowledge. 

One day, Celsius, the Professor of Divinity, who was himself somewhat 
inclined to botany, while walking in the Academical garden, found the ragged 
student entirely engrossed in examining some plant. Impelled by curiosity, he 
entered into conversation with him, when he was so amazed at the learning 
displayed, that he at once took an active interest in the young man ; made him 
an inmate of his home, saw that he was properly fed and clad, and obtained for him 
employment in teaching some children, whereby his lot was made one of com- 
parative comfort. Nor did the good professor's kindness stop here, he brought 



266 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the youth to the attention of Rudbeck, the professor of botany, who soon dis- 
covered such excellence in him, that he had him appointed his adjunctus, and 
he henceforth delivered lectures in the college. 

From this point life changed for the poor student ; the way indeed was yet 
far from easy, many difftculties and great trials lay in wait, but the struggling 
pedant surmounted them all, and lived to see his name — Linnaeus — known all 
over the world as its greatest naturalist. Honors from every nation poured in 
upon him, wealth flowed generously to him, and every day his reputation so 
grew, that when his end came, at a ripe old age, as one old chronicler expressed, 
" he died in a blaze of glory." 

There has been this persistency of purpose which made Linnaeus so suc- 
cessful, in all those who have rendered signal service, or achieved distinction 
in the various departments of science. Difficulties that seemed insurmountable 
have been overcome ; repeated discouragements have not disheartened them, 
but only tended to increase their courage. The difftculties that would have de- 
feated men of weaker wills, were transmuted, by their deep determination, into 
the instruments of their victory. 

Such tenacity of purpose is necessary to success in the religious life. There 
are lions in the way ; there are serpents hidden in every hedge ; there are nets 
spread, and pitfalls dug for the feet, and there is a savage behind every tree. 
There has to be the strongest and most persistent determination to make any 
headway, and the strength of the Divine Will also is necessary to make the 
journey and achieve the victory. 

It is a lovely thing to see Linnaeus lost in the contemplation of God's 
beautiful thoughts in the planted realm, and determined to learn the secrets 
God had ready to reveal to those who should persistently seek them. It is a 
still more lovely thing to be lost in the Divine personality, by wdiose word and 
energy the material things exist, and know the secrets of his heart, which he 
is willing to communicate to all those who diligently seek them ; and to know 
by blest experience his Son, who is the beauty of all beauties, and the loveliness 
of all love. 



FIELD-MARSHAL ROBERTS HONORED BY THE QUEEN 



w 



HEN Field-Marshal Roberts returned from the war in South Africa, he 
was received by the royal family and the people of England with honors, 
such as, perhaps, had not been bestowed upon any military leader since 
the days of Wellington. The government laid out a most elaborate and 
magnificent programme of processions and exercises. The royal family took the 
lead in the reception. At Osborne, underneath arches of flowers and evergreens 
and mottoes, and amidst the enthusiasm of the multitudes, the hero passed through 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 267 

the grounds of the palace. After an exchange of greetings, he was conducted 
into the drawing-room, where Queen Victoria received him alone, and conferred 
upon him the dignity of an Earldom, and invested him with the Order of the 
Garter. There had been a vacancy since the days of the Duke of Argyll, and 
it was universally expected that he would receive the coveted honor. The 
exercises continued the following day, when he went with a blaze of glory from 
Southampton to Buckingham Palace. He was met at Paddington Station by 
the Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Victoria, the Duke and Duchess of 
York, the Duke of Connaught, the Duke of Cambridge and Sir John Aird, one 
of London's twenty-eight new Mayors. The procession moved forward in the 
following order. The royal personages with their escort of Life Guards, drove 
a long distance in advance of Lord Roberts, so that the throngs behind the 
Hnes of soldiers in the streets might single him out as the sole object of their 
interest and grateful homage. The Commander-in-Chief was in a carriage with 
General Ian Hamilton and Kelly-Kenny and Colonel Carrington, and was at- 
tended by an escort of thirteen hussars and six mounted Indian orderlies. Lord 
Roberts' staff and Sir Evelyn Wood and the Headquarters' Staff were behind 
in carriages with the Secretary of War, Lady Roberts and others. A detach- 
ment of hussars brought the cavalcade to a close. Fifteen thousand regular 
soldiers were employed to keep the populace from crowding the carriages in 
the parade. Hundreds of thousands of people, wild with delight, lined the 
streets. They recognized loyally the heir to the throne and his attendants, 
but when they saw the little man, with brown face, white hair and gray 
moustache, they gave full vent to their enthusiasm, cheering themselves hoarse. 
A heavy fog had made it necessary to turn on the city lights at mid-day, and had 
delayed the procession several hours, during which time the people, chattering 
and shivering with the cold, persistently held their places in the line; and when 
the carriage passed that held " good old Bobs," and they had gotten one look 
at their hero, they said they were paid for all their trouble, and went back con- 
tentedly to their homes. 

At the royal banquet at Buckingham Palace, the Prince of Wales, pro- 
posing the health of the Field-Marshal, said : 

" It is my pleasure, on behalf of the Princess and of all the members of the 
royal family, in the Queen's name, to welcome Lord Roberts home from the 
distant country where he has commanded our gallant army in very difficult and 
trying circumstances. We congratulate Lord Roberts upon the success he has 
achieved and upon seeing him safe back. In the name of all present, I wish to 
express our delight at finding Lord Roberts accompanied by his wife and two 
daughters." Lord Roberts, replying, said : 

" Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords and Ladies and Gentleman : I am 
deeply sensible of the honor Your Royal Highness, with the Princess and the 
Duke and Duchess of Connaught, paid me in coming to see me at Paddington 



268 THE SPEAKING OAK 

Station, and I appreciate very highly the kind and flattering words in which 
Your Royal Highness has proposed my health. My heart is full of joy at the 
unexpected and magnificent honor with which Her Majesty the Queen has been 
graciously pleased to reward my endeavors in South Africa, and at the splendid 
welcome the public of England have given me. The only drawback to my hap- 
piness is that circumstances in South Africa have prevented more of my com- 
rades from being with me, the comrades to whose valor and military skill I owe 
any success that may have been achieved in South Africa. 

" Your gracious words, sir, and the kindness of this distinguished company 
in responding to them, will, I assure you, never be forgotten by me." 

This unusual tribute to Lord Roberts was partly on account of his military 
skill and service to the Empire, and also of his admirable qualities as a man. 
Because he was one of the truest, purest, kindliest, manliest of men, the com- 
mon people as well as Royalty made him their idol. 

The highest honors that the greatest rulers can confer upon heroes for 
valor or military success, are trifling when compared with that honor which the 
King of Heaven will bestow upon the humblest Soldier of the Cross who is 
loyal to His Son. They shall ride in royal chariots, underneath triumphal arches 
through palace grounds, and be admitted into the Palace, where the Sovereign 
of the universe will bestow upon them a crown of life. 



THE THIEF IN THE CARRIAGE-HOUSE 

N a pleasant interview wnth Governor Odell, one evening, I asked him if 
he would relate to me an incident or two connected with his history which 
w^ould illustrate some valuable truth. He said that nothing of unusual 
interest had occurred in his brief public career ; that no heroic experiences 
had thus far fallen to his lot, and then, pausing a moment, he said : "I had for- 
gotten; there is one heroic incident in my life, which I will give you. My 
brother Hiram and 1, after supper, often rode to town together from our place, 
a mile or two in the country. We arranged a division of labor, by which, in 
harnessing and unharnessing the horse, each did his half. We became so pro- 
ficient in our individual parts, that we could have the horse in the buggy or 
back into the stall again, in an incredibly short time. One night, I had been 
delayed a little longer by a call than usual, and my brother felt a little pro- 
voked at having been compelled to wait for me. We went home as fast as we 
could go, but neither spoke a word. In a short time we had the harness off, 
and as I was doing the last part assigned to me — putting on the halter, my 
brother said, * Ben, come here ! There's a burglar in the carriage-house. Don't 
vou see him ? ' I looked and saw him. I said, ' Hipe, have you got your re- 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 269 

volver ? ' He said, * Yes.' I said, ' Walk the gentleman out.' I called and 
said, ' Young man, come out from there, we've got you.' He did not come. 
My brother called peremptorily to him, but he did not respond. ' Shall I 
shoot ? ' asked my brother. I replied, ' Let him have this last warning.' It 
was not heeded, and ' Bang ! Bang 1 ' went the revolver till the six chambers 
were all emptied. Father got out of bed, and ran down into the yard to find 
what was the trouble. A more careful examination of the premises revealed 
the fact that the burglar was none other than a hog, that had been killed, hung 
up, and covered with a white cloth. I threw myself down on the grass and 
laughed and rolled and laughed. This is about the only act of heroism that 
I ever remember to have been connected with. The most tragical part of this 
tragedy, however, is that when the hog was sold the next day, there was not 
a bullet hole found in his body." 

There is nothing more untrue than the oft-repeated statement that it 
makes no difference what a man believes, so long as he is honest in his belief. 
The young men were honest in their opinion that the hog was a burglar, but 
their opinion did not make it a fact. We may honestly believe the right is 
wrong, and the wrong right, and yet our opinion will not affect the everlasting 
wrongness or rightness of an action. It makes all the difference in the world 
what we believe, however honest we may be in our opinion. 



A YOUNG MAN PREACHES TO A PREACHER 



DR. GEORGE F. PENTECOST told me this singular incident, which 
occurred during his pastorate in London: 

" I was once traveling down from London to Edinburgh, for the 
purpose of preaching the opening sermon before the Prophetic Confer- 
ence, to be held in the Free Assembly Hall in that city. I was in a third-class car- 
riage, in which were three other travelers. At Newcastle, there came in the carri- 
age a man, about thirty-five years of age. From his dress and general appear- 
ance, and especially from the look of his hands, he was, I suppose, a mechanic. 
He took the seat beside me. After the train started and was well under way, 
he addressed a few words of remark concerning the day and the weather, to 
which I responded politely. Presently, after a little embarrassment, he said: 

" * I beg your pardon, sir ; really I do not wish to be obtrusive or imperti- 
nent, but I should like to ask you a question.* 
" * Certainly,' I replied. 

" ' May I ask you, sir, if you are a Christian ? ' 

" This was rather startling, and I observed that the other passengers dropped 
tlieir papers and books and turned their attention toward us. Suppressing my 



270 THE SPEAKING OAK 

surprise, and quickly determining not to give a categorical answer to his question, 
I replied, 

" ' Why, my friend, that is a very leading question and possibly ought not 
to be answered offhand. What do you mean by being a Christian ? ' 

" He then began to tell me in a very simple and straightforward way what 
he understood and meant. His exposition was a very true and sincere one. 
In the meantime. I asked him many questions, for the purpose of drawing him 
out and ascertaining how much he himself knew about this important matter. 
I confess that I was gratified at his clear replies, and became convinced that he 
was utterly sincere — one of those Christians who felt it to be his duty to sow 
his seed beside all waters, if happily, he might win a soul to Christ. I did not 
in words tell him that I was a Christian, but plainly intimated to him that I 
was deeply interested in the matter. In the end, he told me that he had made a 
vow that he would never miss an opportunity of speaking a word for Christ, and 
evidently he was very earnest in his endeavor to win me. By this time we 
were drawing near to Edinburgh. He asked me if I were stopping over- 
night in the city : and when I told him I was so intending, he said, 

" ' Well, sir, I have taken a day from my work to go down to the Conference 
for the purpose of hearing a man whom I have never seen or heard preach. A 
man,' he said, ' to whom I owe my own conversion, through reading one of 
his little tracts. For five years,' he said, ' I have kept a number of these tracts 
in my pocket, and give them away as I have opportunity. I would earnestly 
advise you to go to the Free Assembly Hall to night, and hear Dr. Pentecost,' 
And with that, just as we were stepping out of the carriage, he handed me one 
of my own tracts." 

The courage and evangelical zeal of the young man are to be highly com- 
mended. People have become so in the habit of thinking and talking about 
every other subject than that of religion, that the one who ventures to intro- 
duce that question is likely to be considered impertinent, even by Christian 
people. The world will be converted much more rapidly when the missionary 
spirit and conversation of the young man shall characterize the average Chris- 
tian. 

There is no measuring the message of a true minister of God, its influence 
goes beyond his sight or his thought. The audience which the preacher ad- 
dresses is only the beginning of those saving influences that move out in ever 
widening circles. It is likely that the unconscious energies of a good man will 
be more potential than the conscious ones. The true minister of the Lord 
Jesus will doubtless find many souls in heaven, saved by his instrumentality, 
whose faces he had never seen, and whose hands he had never clasped. 

The religious press has grown, in this age, to be a tremendous power in 
saving individual men, and in establishing the Kingdom of God. Many a pre- 
cious soul has been redeemed by the judicious distribution of religious literature. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 271 

THOMAS EDISON'S FIRST APPEARANCE IN BOSTON 



THOMAS EDISON, after wanderings North and South, reached Boston, a 
young man twenty-one years of age. He had invented a device by which 
two currents could be used over a submarine wire, and had secured a 
position in the telegraph office at Boston. He came into the city, poor, 
tired, and shabby in his dress. He gives the following graphic description of his 
reception there : " I had been four days and nights on the road, and having had 
very little sleep, did not present a very fresh appearance, especially, as compared 
with the operators of the East, who were far more dressy than their brethren of the 
West. The manager asked me when I was ready to go to work. ' Now,' I 
replied. I was then told to return at 5 150 p. m., and punctually at that hour 
I entered the main operating rooms and was introduced to the night manager. 
My peculiar appearance caused much mirth, and, as I afterwards learned, the 
night operators consulted together how they might ' put up a job on the jay from 
the Woolly West.' I was given a pen, and assigned the New York No. i wire. 
After waiting an hour I was told to come over to a special table and take a 
special report for the Boston Herald, the conspirators having arranged to have 
one of the fastest senders in New York to send the despatch, and ' salt ' the 
new man. I sat down unsuspiciously at the table, and the New York man 
started slowly. I had perfected myself in a simple and rapid style of hand- 
writing, devoid of flourishes, and susceptible of being increased from forty-five 
to fifty-four words a minute by gradually reducing the size of the lettering. 
This was several words faster than any operator in the United States. Soon the 
New York operator increased his speed, to which I easily adapted my pace. This 
put my rival on his mettle, and he put in his best powers, which were, however, 
soon reached. At this point I happened to look up, and saw the operators all 
looking over my shoulder, with their faces shining with fun and excitement. I 
knew then that they were trying to put a job on me, but kept my own counsel, 
and went on placidly with my work, even sharpening a pencil at intervals, by 
way of extra aggravation. The New York man then commenced to slur over 
his words, running them together, and striking the signals ; but I had been used 
to this kind of telegraphy in taking reports, and was not in the least discom- 
fited. Finally, when I thought the fun had gone far enough, and having com- 
pleted the special, I quietly opened the key and remarked, ' Say, young man, 
change off and send with your other foot.' This broke the New York man all 
up, and he turned the job over for another man to finish." 

Young Edison remained in Boston only one year, but in that time, by his 
experiments, he laid the foundation for the improvements in telegraphy which 
are employed now everywhere. He then went to New York City, where his 
success as an operator and inventor was so great and so rapid. 

It is not the clothes that are worn, but the man within them which deter- 



272 THE SPEAKING OAK 

mines influence and standing. There is no need of making any apology for 
slovenliness in dress, and yet this young man was poverty personified. His 
mind was more taken up with everlasting principles than with fashionable 
clothing ; he was so lost in his chemicals, that he was not much more careful 
with his apparel than he was with his corner of the baggage-car, or with the 
president's office in Indianapolis. The linen duster which he wore during his 
earlier years to protect his clothes from stains and dirt, and his shabby straw 
hat, were then counted the freak of a crank ; the same kind of articles worn 
now by the great inventor in his laboratory in Orange, are considered the at- 
tendants of genius ; and the young chemist or electrician who ever expects to 
amount to much, will be expected to provide himself with a long linen duster, 
and a straw hat very much the worse for the wear. 

The operators in Boston who attempted to " set up a job on the jay from 
the Woolly West," were making fun of one whom they thought to be a tramp, 
because he was poverty-stricken in his appearance. Appearances deceived them. 
It is an unsafe thing to judge people by the clothing they wear, or by outward 
appearances ; six times out of ten the judgment might be correct, the other 
four times it would be incorrect. Manhood and womanhood, and not ward- 
robes, should determine a person's standing in the Church. The operators 
were making fun of a man who was in every way superior to themselves. It 
is generally the case that those who are most ready to make fun of, criticise 
or censure their neighbors, are in every way inferior to the ones at whom they 
laugh, and whom they condemn. 



THE BOY FARRAGUT 



rORMERLY, the age of admission to our navy, was much lower than it is 
at present, and thus it chanced that in 1813, young Farragut, although 
but thirteen years of age, found himself a midshipman, on board the 
man-of-war, Essex, commanded by Captain Porter. 
Early in the following year, while the Essex lay in the neutral harbor 
of Valparaiso, she was attacked by the two British frigates, Phoebe and Clierub, 
either of which was much her superior in strength. 

Porter, however, had no idea of surrendering, and fought his ship with the 
greatest heroism, suffering terrible loss of life, and resulting finally in the Essex 
becoming a helpless wreck. The carnage was frightful ; men dead and dying 
cumbered the decks, while the very cock-pit ran blood. But through all this 
terrible scene, while cannon shot were rushing by, or sending masts and splin- 
ters flying around his head, while men were falling fast around him, the boy, 
Farragut, stood amid his guns ; the only officer left alive. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 273 

There at his post, this mere child remained to the end ; the blood flowing 
from his own tender side; but above the roar of combat, rising over the sound 
of shrieking shell, was regularly heard his shrill, childish, treble voice, as he 
calmly transmitted the orders of his grand commander. Naval history furnishes 
few sublimer pictures than that presented by this undaunted lad, whose sense 
of duty proved superior to the fears of childhood, and overcame terrors which 
might well have appalled a veteran to the trade. 

In the battle of life, there have been some boys and girls who have been 
heroic soldiers of the Cross, standing at the post of duty, fighting valiantly for 
the establishment of the Kingdom of God. 



THE KNIGHT WHO SLEW DEATH 



»r*^ 



I 



N the Idylls of the King, Tennyson gives us vivid pictures of the chivalry 
of the Middle Ages. With the stories of love and tourney there are com- 
bined lessons of truth, beautifully told. The story of Gareth and Lynette 
is one of these. Gareth is the son of King Lot and Queen Bellicent, and 
longs to become one of the knights of Arthur's Round Table. This his mother re- 
fuses to permit, but finally agrees, on condition that he shall serve a twelve 
month and a day in Arthur's kitchen, disguised as a scullion ; thinking that such a 
condition would cure the lad of any desire to become a knight. But Gareth 
gladly complied with the condition and served in Arthur's kitchen as a knave. 
After a few weeks of such service well rendered, the Queen mother released the 
boy from his vow and sent him the arms of his father. He eagerly sought 
King Arthur, and begged him to become his knight. Unknown to any save 
Lancelot, Arthur's brother, Gareth was made a knight of the Round Table, 
and was promised the first quest. On the same day came the Lady Lynette, 
whose sister Lyonors, was held captive in a distant castle guarded by three 
knights, known as Morning Star, Noon Sun, and Evening Star. A huge man- 
beast called Death, held the Castle Perilous, in which Lyonors was held a 
prisoner. Lynette besought Arthur to send Lancelot to rescue her sister, but 
Gareth in a loud voice demanded the quest, and to the disgust of Lynette it was 
immediately granted to him. The two started on the quest, Gareth, supposedly 
a kitchen knave, and Lynette in great anger that Arthur should have sent such 
a one on such an important quest. The three hostile knights are met ; one after 
another succumbs to the stroke of Gareth's sword, for the very disdain of the 
queen nerved him to his best endeavor. Finally, they arrive in sight of the 
Castle Perilous, and Gareth is made known to Lynette as a prince and knight 
of Arthur. She begs him not to do battle with the hideous monster who 
guards the castle, but he boldly defies Death. At the first onslaught Death is 



274 THE SPEAKING OAK 

thrown to the ground, and on attempting to rise, " with one stroke Sir Gareth 
spHt the skull. 

" Half fell to right and half to left and lay. 
Then with a stronger bufYet he clove the helm 
As thoroughly as the skull ; and out from this 
Issued the bright face of a blooming boy 
Fresh as a flower new-born, .... 
Then sprang the happier day from under ground ; 
And Lady Lyonors and her house, with dance 
A.nd revel and song made merry over Death, 
As being after all their foolish fears 
And horrors only proven a blooming boy." 

The One born in a manger, the poor carpenter's son, was the royal knight, 
who, defeating His enemies, slew death with one hard stroke, rescuing captives 
from peril and from fear, and bringing from his cloven skull, a form beautiful 
as the flowers, glorious as an angel of light. 



PROTECTED BY THE GREAT SPIRIT 

AFTER the battle of the Monongahela, in a letter to his brother, George 
Washington recognized the special Divine Providence which protected 
him, in the following language : '' By the all-powerful dispensation of 
Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expec- 
tation ; for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, yet 
I escaped unhurt, while death was levelling my companions on every side of me." 
Fifteen years afterward, he went West with a party of men to survey the 
wild lands, and an aged Indian chieftain called upon him, and told him that at 
the battle of Monongahela, he had selected him as a speeial target for his bul- 
lets, and had instructed his warriors to do the same, but that they were unable 
to hit him. The chief said that, becoming convinced that he was under the 
protection of the Great Spirit, they ceased firing at him. He said that he had 
made a very long journey to look one more time upon the face of him 
who was the particular favorite of heaven. 

What a wonderful example Washington set, in many regards, to the pa- 
triots and statesmen of America for all time! Nearly all of the great men of 
the nation to this time have confessed their faith in the guidance and inspiration 
of the Divine Spirit. Nearly every great commander of the nation has recog- 
nized the Divine anointing and protection. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 275 

THE BELLMAN WHO DIED AT HIS POST 



FOR five hundred years the Catholic Cathedral had stood in Pekin, until the 
last outbreak of the Boxers, when it, with the other foreign buildings in 
the city, was destroyed by fire. Just before its destruction two thousand 
native children were taken from its walls to a place of safety. The Cath- 
olic missionaries had an understanding that when the Boxers should approach the 
building the bell should sound the alarm. Accordingly, at the first appearance of 
the enemy the bellman began vigorously to ring the alarm. The Boxers used the 
torch ; fire crept up into the tower ; it broke through the floor beneath his feet, 
but he kept on ringing the bell until the floor and the bellman and the bell fell 
into the flames beneath. Here was heroism in the humblest man in the cathedral 
worthy of the greatest king or conqueror. A life like that is not lost. From 
its chariot of fire it preaches to th^^ whole world a thousand sermons on fidelity and 
sacrifice. It will be well if every herald set up on the watch tower of Zion shall be 
as true and brave in ringing the alarm bell as this heroic sexton of the Cathedral 
of Pekin. 



BROWNING'S RELIGIOUS FAITH 



ROBERT BROWNING was eminently a Christian poet. The hold he had 
upon the vital truths of religion which he never relinquished, was due 
largely to the example of his mother. She was an earnest, evangelical 
Christian, who trained her children diligently for the Lord. His love and 
reverence for her were akin to worship. Even as a grown man he never could sit 
by her otherwise than with an arm about her waist. Her death occurred in 1849, 
while he was in Italy. His sister, fearing that the shock of the news would be fatal 
to him. sent him two letters, saying in one, " She is not well," and in the other, 
" She is very ill," when in fact she had died. As it was, he was completely pros- 
trated, and his recovery was very slow. The influence of this woman's devotion to 
her Saviour colored all the poet's days. Of a very affectionate disposition, the 
death of his wife, closely followed by that of his father, rendered him almost 
inconsolable, but through it all shone the Christian's view of the immortality of the 
soul. In Rabbi Ben Ecra, he wrote, 

"All that is, at all, 
Lasts ever, past recall ; 
Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure." 

He once said to a friend, " Death ! It is this harping on death I despise 
so much ; this idle as well as ignorant harping. Why should we not change like 
everything else? Death is life, just as our daily, our momentarily dying body 



276 THE SPEAKING OAK 

is none tlie less alive, and ever recruiting new forces of existence. Without 
death there could be no prolongation of that which we call life. For myself, I 
deny death as an end of anything. Never say of me that I am dead." Near 
the end of his life, a dying lady wrote to thank him for the help she had 
received from his poems. The following is an extract from the letter he sent 
her in reply. " Dear friend : It would ill become me to say a word as to my 
own feelings, except inasmuch as they can be common to us both in such a 
situation as you describe yours to be, and which by sympathy I can make mine 
by the anticipation of a few years at most. It is a great thing, the greatest, 
that a human being should have passed the probation of life and sum up its 
experience as a witness to the power and love of God. I dare congratulate you. 
All the help I can ofifer in my poor degree is the assurance that I see ever 
more reason to hold by the same hope — and that by no means in ignorance of 
what has been advanced to the contrary. And for your sake, I could wish it 
to be true that I had so much of * genius ' as to permit the testimony of an 
especially privileged insight to come in aid of the ordinary argument. For I 
know I. myself, have been aware of the communication of something more than 
a ratiocinative process when the convictions of ' genius ' have thrilled m.y soul 
to its depths." 

Robert Browning was priest as well as poet. His strong faith bound thou- 
sands of souls to the heart of God, and to immortality. 

Death is only an Incident in life and not the end of it. It is only the clock 
striking twelve, which introduces a new day that shall never end. 

^ V* ^ 

GENERAL HARRISON'S TENDERNESS OF HEART 



WHEN General Harrison died there was a meeting of the Indiana State and 
Indianapolis Bar Associations in the Senate Chamber at the State House, 
to pass resolutions and express becoming sentiments. There were present 
both of Indiana's United States Senators, judges of the United States Cir- 
cuit Court, the entire membership of the State's Supreme and Appellate Courts and 
prominent lawyers from all parts of the State. All of the addresses made were sin- 
gularly able and appropriate. Hon. A. L. Mason, of Indianapolis, a close friend of 
General Harrison, among other things said : " Notwithstanding his great natural 
endowment of intellectuality ; notwithstanding the fact that his reason always 
maintained with him a clear ascendancy, he was still a man of intense feeling, 
and he recognized with unerring perception the part which feeling plays in the 
affairs of man. On the occasion when Mr. Gladstone wrote his remarkable 
letter, after the Armenian massacre, in which he denounced the Sultan as ' that 
wicked old man,' and declared it to be the duty of England to protect the Armenian 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 2^7 

Christians from massacre, I spoke of Mr. Gladstone's letter to Mr. Harrison, 
and asked him if he did not think the letter was unimportant, because it was all 
mere sentiment. ' Yes,' said he, * it is mere sentiment ; but sentiment rules man- 
kind.' He had, indeed, profound sympathy for the weak and oppressed. On 
the evening of March 6, immediately preceding the fatal illness with which he 
was seized on the following morning, I rallied him about his recent article on the 
Boer war, saying that when he next went to England he would not be a welcome 
guest at the Court. ' Well,' said he, with a quick flash of the eye, ' I can go to 
see Kruger.' He loved little children. Every spring he spent many hours at 
the summer mission for sick children. He looked after the arrangements for 
cooking and baths. He gave attention to the size and comfort of the cribs 
and savings for these children of the poor. He was a devout man, a believer 
in God and in righteousness. A few weeks before his death we were talking 
of the utterances of a certain public man. General Harrison said : * The trouble 
is, that he leaves God out of the twentieth century. Whoever leaves God out 
of his calculation cannot rightly judge of the future.' " 

General Harrison was right. Sentiment does rule this world. " Out of 
the heart are the issues of life." Love is the strongest force in the universe. 
God is love. 



LINCOLN PARDONS A SOLDIER CONDEMNED TO DEATH 

N a lecture at Round Lake, New York, one night, I referred to the pardon 
of young Scott by President Lincoln, to the pleading of Scott's little sis- 
ter, who came all the way from Vermont to the White House, and to 
the scene of Lincoln's taking the child on his knee, pressing her to his 
heart, and telling her he would not let them kill her borther. At the close of the 
lecture Colonel J. D. Rogers came forward to the platform and said : " I was 
much interested in the Scott story. I was one of the officers detailed to carry the 
sentence into execution." I said, " Colonel, would you write out a little ac- 
count of the scene and send it to me in New York ? " He said he would, and 
in a day or two I received the following description of the thrilling scene : 
" I told you I was an eye-witness to the scene as far as it was enacted. 
" It was in the summer, nearing fall, of 1861, over the Chain Bridge, in 
Virginia, but in sight of Washington from the high table land. There was 
a large part of the then forming Army of the Potomac occupying the point, 
having daily skirmishes with the enemy, who were in the vicinity. We were 
also there to build up the defenses of Washington. During this time Scott, the 
young flaxen-haired, fair-faced boy from Vermont, unused to anything like the 
deprivations and hardships of the soldier, slept on his post — an outpost — one 
night in face of the enemy. He was reported, court-martialed and sentenced 




278 THE SPEAKING OAK 

to be shot. An example must be made, and this beautiful, unsophisticated boy- 
was the victim for the sacrifice. It must be done in the presence of a detail 
from each company of every regiment in that part of the army, so that the 
example would have its desired effect on all the army. The trial and prelimi- 
naries for the execution took days, during which efforts from the home of the 
young soldier had been made in behalf of the son and brother, and touched 
the great heart of our great President, who determined to pardon the boy. 
Between the President and the commanding ofificer who was to carry out the 
sentence of the court-martial, an understanding was had that the preliminaries 
of the execution up to the act of taking the life were to be carried out, with 
the usual formalities. While waiting and delaying, a cavalcade and guard 
arrived from Washington, and the order of pardon was placed in the hands 
of the commander of the execution, and read by him. Ten thousand soldiers 
were marshaled in hollow square to witness the supposed execution. The 
condemned soldier sat on his coffin — a plain pine box — beside which yawned 
his open grave. Forty yards away stood a detail of soldiers with four loaded 
rifles, ready at command to execute the cruel law. When the order of pardon 
arrived, and was read in the hearing of the condemned boy and all that great 
body of soldiers, the boy fainted for joy and fell as if shot, while for more 
than an hour every man was permitted to shout. There seemed to be nothing 
but shouting and tears of joy. 

" Thus ended the apparent tragedy, almost parallel to the sacrifice of Isaac 
by Abraham. The act, so far as its moral effect was intended, was enacted, 
and Scott was free. Scott made one of the best of soldiers, was mortally wound- 
ed near Yorktown, and died praying for the noble and kind-hearted President. 

Scott's little sister interceded for him at the White Plouse to secure his 
pardon. Condemned to death, we have our pardon through the death and inter- 
cession of our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, and should become faithful soldiers 
of the Cross. 

*^ *r^ *^ 

WIDOWHOOD 

HE widowhood of Victoria was pathetic in the extreme. Her sorrow at the 
loss of her husband was so intense that the loyal widows of Great Britain 
presented her with an elegantly bound Bible and a note of sympathy to 
which the Queen made affectionate reply. In that reply she says, refer- 
ring to herself, " But what she values more is their appreciation of her adored and 
perfect husband. To her the only sort of consolation she experiences is in the con- 
stant sense of his unseen presence, and the blessed thought of the eternal union 
hereafter, which will make the bitter anguish of the present appear as naught. 
That our Pleavenly Fatlier may impart to * many widows ' those sources of 





THE PARDON WAS PLACED IN THE HANDS OF THE COMMANDER (279) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 281 

consolation and support is their broken-hearted Queen's earnest prayer." 
When President Lincohi was assassinated, the Queen sent a message of sympathy 
to his widow. When the news of President Garfield's death reached England, 
she caused the blinds of the palace windows to be pulled down, as an expression 
of sorrow at a nation's loss and a sister's widowhood. And she sent to Mrs. 
Garfield this telegram : " Words cannot express the deep sympathy I feel with 
you at this terrible moment. May God support and comfort you, as he alone can." 
When the Queen died, Mrs. Garfield sent to Windsor a most beautiful 
wreath of flowers, with a white ribbon bearing this inscription, " From Mrs. 
Garfield, in grateful remembrance of the Queen's kindness to her." Victoria's 
actions were prompted by a pure and affectionate heart. The well-nigh uni- 
versal estimate of her character was expressed in the floral offering of President 
McKinley sent to the Queen's funeral. It was a large piece, eight feet in 
diameter, made of the most chaste and fragrant flowers, designed to represent 
a full and perfect life. Bacon has well said, *'A11 our actions take their hues 
from the complexion of the heart, as landscapes their variety from the light." 



PENELOPE DARLING AND THE BIRDS 

MR. H. H. HOPE has told a wonderful story of the magical influence of a 
poor girl, in one of the Southern States, over domestic animals and birds. 
He says : " It was one of the most beautiful sights my eyes had ever been 
permitted to behold on earth, to witness the perfect susceptibility of so 
many birds to the impressions which this girl made upon them. At any time, 
within two minutes after she came where they were in their little cages, whose 
doors had been left wide open, where they might be sitting in their nests, hatching 
their eggs — or on their little roosts, where they might be with their heads 
curled under their wings, sitting quietly and fast asleep — her presence seemed 
to work upon them like a spell of power ; an insensible and invisible, yet al- 
mighty presence, seemed to go forth from her, and to rouse them all into the 
highest degree of excitement. 

" I recollect going with her one fine morning, to her great bird-rookery, to 
see her perform her maternal duties, and play the part of mother to her collec- 
tion ; for I know of no other term so well fitted to express the relations which 
she seemed to bear toward birds. As soon as the door was opened by her, 
and she stepped in, the first songster that saluted her was the American brown 
thrasher or mocking-bird. He seemed to be the leader ; and by a few beautiful, 
soft, yet trilling notes, he rose to the dignity of a matutinal salute. Instantly, 
hundreds of birds were in a flutter. Their little necks outstretched, heads up- 



lifted, eyes wide open, feathers fluttering, tails expanded : sitting down, standing 



282 THE SPEAKING OAK 

up, walking about, trilling chirruping, singing half-notes, little bits of songs, 
rousing themselves up to receive new instalments of vital energy, and getting 
themselves organized into proper relations to life. 

" Never, elsewhere, have I seen such an exhibition. And the impression was 
mutual ; the girl seemed to be as much affected by it as the birds were. Her 
face put on a peculiar hue ; her eyes, as compared with their common expres- 
sion, looked decidedly unnatural ; she seemed suddenly to grow in height ; there 
was a variation of aspect about her as a whole. Her lips were slightly parted ; 
her nostrils dilated to the largest extent ; the tips of her ears came forward with 
a sort of natural instinct, as if her whole soul were on the alert to catch every 
single song sung by the hundreds of these little songsters, all waking up from 
their rest of the night to a fresh life at morning dawn. For, although it was 
broad daylight, and even the sun was just peeping over the top of yonder 
Eastern hill, the building stood so shaded and clustered all around by the large, 
old apple-trees that the light within its walls seemed to be of that soft, mellow 
kind which in a bright summer morning is visible at four o'clock. The girl 
cast a rapid glance over every part of the aviary, and now walking hastily about 
its outer edges, threw open the doors of such cages as had been closed, and then, 
taking her way down the middle of it, did the same with the cages that were 
suspended from its top. Thereupon she began a beautiful carol herself. In- 
stantly, she was responded to by so many and such different voices as to make 
one think of music of the sweetest, softest, most harmonious, yet most incom- 
prehensible nature. Strange as my feelings were, when I heard these numerous 
varied notes, which I had no artistic power to separate and arrange in order, 
and which seemed to be the veriest discord, yet it was the most beautiful dis- 
cord I had ever heard, I was not so forcibly struck by the music as by the 
living tableau which presented itself to my sight. 

" Within the space of half a minute after this girl began her song, you 
could not have told whether she was a boy or a girl, white or black, or what she 
was, so completely was her person covered with feathers, and these feathers 
on the bodies of the birds. They flew out of the cages in every direction, and 
alighted upon her till they made her perfectly invisible as far as her external 
appearance and her countenance were concerned ; and language gave you noth- 
ing for its representation but a mass of varied and beautiful plumage. They 
were on her head and shoulders by the dozen ; they clung to her skirts and 
to her dress in every direction, and screamed and trilled half-notes with such 
indescribable excitement as to thoroughly impress me as I never had been im- 
pressed before. Some of them were hanging upon her skirts head-downward — 
some sideways, some were on her shoes — some were on her head — and so 
wherever they could get a possible chance, they alighted. 

" Now, when I tell my readers that from an old owl, whose eyesight began to 
grow dim as the day began to dawn ; from the eagle, whose eye gleamed darkly 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 283 

among the rest ; from a tame crow, whose ' caw ' filled in like a deep bass 'mid 
tenor music — clear through the whole list of birds of which we know anything 
in this country, and some about which we know nothing except as they are 
imported — they were all on her, around her, about her ; and those who were 
not able to alight upon her were whirling about her head as if in a most 
thoroughly excited state, you may judge what sort of a scene was presented. 

" During this she stood perfectly still. All at once she gave a little chirk, 
followed by a little whistle, and they began to go away from her — this one, that 
one and the other. And so they each went back with as much order and regu- 
larity to their cages as ever one saw a puppet move from side to side at the will 
of its operator. Then she went from cage to cage ; took out single birds, and 
perching them on her hand, her arm, her shoulder or her head, she would sing 
as the birds could sing. And it seems to me from my present point of remem- 
brance as if she imitated the natural notes of more than fifty species of birds." 

How susceptible the lower animals are to human tenderness and love ! The 
dog can tell in an instant, almost before a word is spoken, whether the master 
is pleased or displeased. What a shame and sin to be unduly rough or cruel 
toward the poor creatures who cannot give any excuses or make any explana- 
tions, but who, as a rule, are so loyal in their service to men. How bewitching 
are the magnetisms of a beautiful heart ! They draw people toward them, filling 
them with joyfulness and song. What an inexpressible charm there is in a 
soul charged with the Saviour's love ! Men are drawn from ignorance to intel- 
ligence, from rudeness to culture, from sin to holiness, from misery to happiness 
by its divine magnetisms. Jesus Christ has a divine charm which is drawing 
the world, with its barbarism, its heathenism, and its wretchedness, to himself, 
and filling it with purity, joy, life and everlasting love. 

^* v» v« 

INTEGRITY AND INDUSTRY 



WILLIAM McKINLEY, like the other two martyred Presidents, was en- 
riched with poverty, and exalted by obscurity, and, like them, made his 
way up from poverty and obscurity to the most exalted position in the 
land, by honesty and hard work. He earned the money, helping in the 
Post-Office, to pay his way in the academy, and though a mere boy when the war 
broke out, he was teaching school to make a living. Knowing that Colonel 
Thomas Bradley and President McKinley were warm personal friends, I once 
asked him how he happened to meet Mr. McKinley. He said : '* I had known 
him slightly before, but while he was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, 
I had an introduction to him which I shall never forget. Foreign firms had been 
in the habit of manufacturing goods and stamping them with a name indicating 



284 THE SPEAKING OAK 

that they had been made in this country, and that they had been made by some rival 
firm. I felt that the practice ought to be stopped, and 1 went to Washington to lay 
the matter before the Committee on Ways and Means, of which Mr. McKinley was 
chairman. I did not reach the hotel until very late at night, just before the 
committee adjourned. I sent my card up to the chairman's room, asking for 
five minutes of his time on the morrow. He sent word that every moment of 
the next day was bespoken, but that he would give me five minutes then. I 
went up to his room and said, ' Mr. McKinley, I wanted five minutes to tell 
vou that I want forty-five minutes of your time.' He said, * I am tired almost to 
death ; it is midnight, and you see I am partly undressed for bed. I do not see 
how I can grant your request.' I told him I represented five hundred work- 
ingmen beside myself. He replied, quickly, ' Then your cause is more im- 
portant than my sleep. Proceed !' W^e talked together, neither of us noticing 
the flight of time till a quarter to three in the morning, when he said, * Colonel, 
I believe in you and your cause, and, if you make as good a representation of 
your case to the committee as you have to me, I think the law you suggest will 
be recommended.' The law was recommended and passed. After that mid- 
night interview, I never had any difficulty in seeing how it was that William 
McKinley secured the nomination for and was elected to the Presidency of the 
United States." I then said, " Colonel, there were two traits of character 
illustrated in the interview which have marked Mr. McKinley's career from the 
very start — fair-mindedness, honesty and tireless industry. He was an ideal pol- 
itician, an able statesman, but he earned his way up to what he was and what 
he had by square-dealing and hard work." 

In his address before the Tuskegee Institute, President McKinley thus em- 
phasized the value of these two elements of success : " Integrity and industry 
are the best possessions which any man can have, and every man can have them. 
Nobody can give them to him or take them from him. He cannot acquire them by 
inheritance ; he canot buy them or beg them or borrow them. They belong to the 
individual and are his unquestioned property. He alone can part with them. They 
are a good thing to have and to keep. They make happy homes ; they achieve suc- 
cess in every walk of life; they have won the greatest triumphs for mankind. No 
man who has them ever gets into the police court or before the grand jury or in the 
chain-gang or work-house. They give one moral and material power. They will 
bring you a comfortable living, make you respect yourself, and command the 
respect of your fellows. They are indispensable to success. They are invin- 
cible. The merchant requires the clerk whom he employs to have them. The 
railroad corporation inquires whether the man seeking employment possesses 
them. Every avenue of human endeavor welcomes them. They are the only 
keys to open with certainty the door of opportunity to struggling manhood. 
Employment waits on them ; capital requires them ; citizenship is not good 
without them. If you do not already have them, get them." 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 285 

CLOTHING FOR THE BODY AND THE SOUL 



MAN is the only creature in the world who is permitted to select his own 
dress. God has furnished clothing for the lower animals, with color and 
fabric suited to their necessities. It is one of the beautiful facts of 
Nature, that these tribes are so careful of the clothing which Providence 
has given them. With paw or tongue or beak, they comb and brush hair, fur and 
feather. The birds especially, are particular about their personal appearance. The 
beautiful plumage with which God has adorned them is rendered even more beauti- 
ful by the care they take in dressing it. This attention to dress, not only enhances 
their beauty, but is of real utility to them ; for by it they are better able to withstand 
the weather and to find their food and make their pilgrimages. Each one is 
supplied with a vase of ointment, with which he oils his feathers when he sees 
the clouds gather, or hears the thunders roll, that his suit may be waterproof in 
the storm, or when he wishes to fly swifter through the air, or dive faster in 
the water. 

There is no reason why people should not be as careful of their personal 
appearance as the birds are. Scrupulous care for the body, for its cleanliness 
and its adornment, are matters of real importance. The old-fashioned idea 
that severe plainness in dress was a symbol of inner purity, and that a flower in 
the bonnet or hair or on the bosom of a Christian, was displeasing to God, was 
a mistake, and though it was held by some of the best people that ever lived, in 
doing so they had to shut their eyes to the beauty of almost every creature that 
God has adorned. Because Infinite Beauty thought it would be best for us, our 
Heavenly Father made the flowers and birds and all other charming things in 
nature. A spirit which is the emanation of Absolute Beauty, and is bound for a 
world of infinite beauty, ought to weave about its body such clothing as would 
be becoming to its dignity and mission. I once heard one of the great orators 
of this country tell this story : " A wealthy man, who was dressed in costly 
fabric, made in most comely form, was met by another man, who was a stickler 
for plain and economical clothing. The better-dressed man was severely criti- 
cized by the other brother in the church, and told that he should wear cheaper 
clothing, and give the difference between the suits to the Missionary Society. 
The man replied that is was his custom to give one-tenth of his income to the 
cause of God, and he had no compunctions of conscience about wearing clothes 
in keeping with his means or station. His friend pressed upon him the sin of 
extravagance in dress. The wealthy man said, '' Suppose you learn the lesson 
you are trying to teach me. I can buy a suit which you could wear on Sunday, 
for half the price of the one you have on. You are committing a great sin, 
according to your theory, in not buying the cheaper suit and giving the differ- 
ence to the Missionary cause. And then you could get a suit cheaper still, and 
have more money for the Missionary box. A few yards at a few dollars onl}-. 



286 THE SPEAKING OAK 

are necessary to cover your body ; according to your reasoning, that is all you 
have any right to spend on your clothing. But even the most economical suit 
made by the tailor is not necessary. Why don't you get a blanket, and cover 
yourself with it, and give the difference in the price to the Missionary Society, 
and become a savage, as your theory would make you, and make it necessary 
to have a missionary sent to you?" The orator was illustrating the thought 
that the clothing of a people is one of the expressions of its civiHzation. 

The soul which, in the highest state of culture, asks for a beautiful cov- 
ering for the body, through grace Divine, desires a suitable garment for itself. 
This is furnished in the robe of righteousness, which the purified wear — a robe 
which is washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. In fact, the strug- 
gle of the soul to find suitable raiment for the body, is but the hint of that higher 
elYort to secure a suitable covering for itself. 

One of the most beautiful thoughts in the Divine life, is that we can put 
on Christ, and wear him as a garment. We need not remain in our shame, nor 
undertake to clothe ourselves in the filthy rags of our own righteousness, we 
need not shiver in the storms of Time, or be pierced with those of the Hereafter, 
we can go to Christ, confessing our shame and ask him to hide our sins from 
the face of the Father, and the issues of the last day. He will allow us to wear 
him as a garment, to carry him about as a complete vestment, letting his light 
in on our faculties, and reflecting eternal beauty and glory ; and we can live 
our earthly lives through him; and, enfolded by him, we may enjoy his imme- 
diate presence forever. 

y» ^r» ^ 

THE GERMAN EMPEROR ON CHRISTIANITY 



o 



N April 24, 1 901, William, Emperor of Germany, took his son, the Crown 
Prince Frederick William, to Bonn, to place him as a student in the uni- 
versity. At the reception given at night in his honor, he made a splendid 
speech, from which we take a few selections : 
" For you, my dear young comrades, it is needless to dwell upon the feelings 
that stir my heart upon finding myself in dear Bonn again and among its students. 
There unrolls before my mind's eye a splendid and glittering picture, full of the 
sunshine of happy contentment which filled the period of my stay here. There 
was joy in life, joy in people, old and young, and, above all, joy in the young 
German Empire which was then just gathering strength. The wish that fills 
my heart at the present moment, above all else, is that as happy a student's time 
may be granted my dear son as once was mine. And how could that well be other- 
wise in this beautiful town of Bonn, so accustomed to the doings of buoyant 
youths? It is as if it were created for them by nature. 

" Yet may the Crown Prince find here memories of his illustrious great- 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 287 

grandfather, whose kindly eye Hghted up whenever the name of Bonn was men- 
tioned ; of his grandfather ; of the noble Prince Consort and life companion 
of that glorified and queenly woman who ever strove for peaceful and friendly 
relations between her people and ours, who, indeed, are both of Germanic stock, 
and of so many other noble German friends who here prepared for their later 
careers." 

Turning to the toast which had been assigned him — William, the Founder of 
the German Empire — he said : 

" The empire now stands before you. May joy and grateful delight fill 
you, and may firm and manly resolve keep your hearts aglow. Work for Ger- 
mania ! The future awaits you and will need your strength, not to squander 
in cosmopolitan dreams or one-sided party tendencies, but to foster the stability 
of national thought and ideals which the German race, by God's grace, has been 
permitted to bring forth from Boniface and Walther Von der Vogelweide to 
Goethe and Schiller. They have become a light and blessing to all mankind ; 
they worked ' universal ' and were nevertheless in themselves strictly exclusive 
Germans. We need such men now more than ever. May you all strive to be- 
come such men. But how shall that be possible ? Who shall help you ? Only 
One — He whose name we all bear, who has borne our sins and washed them 
away, who lived for our example and worked as we should work. May our 
Lord and Saviour plant in you moral earnestness, that your impulses may ever be 
purer and your aims ever sublime. Then you will be armed against all tempta- 
tions and, above all, against vanity and envy. Then you can sing and say, ' We 
Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world.' Then we shall endure 
In the world, strong, spreading civilization." 

In these days, when there are so many little and inefficient men lamenting or 
rejoicing in the supposed decline of Christianity, it is truly inspiring to hear the 
live young ruler of the live young empire say to the youths of his land that their 
influence in the state will be measured by the power of Christ's atonement in their 
hearts. 



MOTHERHOOD 



CERES, weary and disappointed at her vain search for her daughter Pros- 
erpine, renounced the society of the gods and came to earth to live. 
Coming to the city of Eleusis, she was forthwith employed as a nurse for 
the child Demophoon. The nurse gave the babe no food, and yet it grew 
miraculously. The secret was, she breathed in the face of the child the breath of a 
god as it lay in her arms. She anointed it with ambrosia and held it under the fire 
at night. The mother watched the nurse one night and screamed aloud at the treat- 
ment of the child. Ceres, in anger, threw the babe to the ground, stating that she 



288 THE SPEAKING OAK 

had intended to make the child immortal, but the imprudence of the mother had 
prevented it. She said, however, that he should attain to earthly greatness. 

God has made mothers nurses, Ceres-like; and there is a divinity about 
their task. They are to breathe into the face of their children as they rest in their 
arms the breath of a holy inspiration. They must not think of leaving the work 
undone by throwing them to the ground, or be satisfied with giving them over to 
earthly greatness, but by grace divine they should breathe steadily upon them the 
svi^eet spirit of their life, till they become immortal. 

I witnessed the death of one of the most brilliant young men, intellectually, I 
ever met. He called his father to him and said beautiful words of gratitude and 
affection. He gave his last words to his brothers, which were pathetic in the 
extreme. He then spoke sweetly to his sisters as he bade them farewell. He 
was brave while addressing the rest of the family, but when he turned to his 
mother his lips quivered and the tears came. He said, " Mother, come nearer," 
and she fell upon his face. He continued, " Mother, your influence has saved me. 
Your prayers and instruction and example have led me to Christ, and I shall 
be happy forever because you have done your duty by me. Kiss me once more 
before I die. Heaven will be sv^^eet, but it will be sweeter because you are to be 
there." The room seemed to me then to be full of heavenly glory and of angels, 
as one of them unclasped the arms of the boy from the neck of his mother and 
took him away. 

A Christian mother's tender arms are the shelter that angels' wings would 
furnish, and her spirit sinks into her child's heart with the omnipotence of love. 
Her tears of affection soften his spirit, and with the hand of faith she draws the 
arm of the Everlasting about her and him. 



ARY SCHEFFER'S ''CHRISTUS CONSOLATOR" 



*^ y'^N one of the great galleries of Europe is Ary Scheffer's famous picture 
^|J| entitled " Christus Consolator." In the centre of the canvas stands a 
OgHg^ commanding figure of Christ. Grouped about him in various atttitudes 
of supplication are representatives of many classes of society. On the 
right is a woman clinging to the Master, and pressing her face upon His arm as if 
to hold Him forever. Near her is a black slave stretching out his manacled hands, 
mutely appealing for liberty. Here in the foreground is a prisoner, whose chains 
are being sundered at the word of Christ. There at the left, a mother is laying her 
dead child at the miracle worker's feet, pleading for its restoration to life. Near 
her is a laurel-wreathed poet, and farther away an old man with whitened locks, 
wanting his youth again. At a little distance is a soldier with accoutrements of 
war, and all about in every direction are men and w^omen and children of many 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 289 

grades of society, with various needs, seeking consolation from one person, the 
serene Man of Nazareth, the world's Messiah. Gazing upon that noble work 
of human genius inspired by an appreciation of the divine compassion, one feels 
that a proper inscription for it would be the words of the eager disciples, who 
disturbed the Master's repose by exclaiming, " All men seek for Thee !" 



PERSISTENT EFFORT 



I 



N talking with some inventors, and in reading the opinions of others, we 
have been greatly surprised to see what an estimate they put upon appli- 
cation in the field of invention. They insist that a young man of average 
ability, by severe and constant effort, can become quite an inventor. Mr. 
Edison says : " The question of natural aptitude enters into the matter, and without 
it no man can become a star, nevertheless it is an auxiliary attainment ; dogged 
perseverance is the keystone of success. In the arts, such as painting, music, 
poetry, and so forth, a very special temperament may be required, but in the 
workshop of science, men of the sanguine, sandy kind come out ahead. The 
man who keeps at one thing, and never minds the clock, is always sure to do 
something. He may miss many social engagements, of course, but his success 
is assured." 

Mr. Elmer Gates, of Washington, told me that it was his one great ambition 
to make permanent his school for teaching young men to become inventors. 
When I suggested to him the current opinion that inventors are rather born 
than made, he took issue with me at once, and said that any person of average 
ability, with proper instruction and persistent application, could be quite successful 
in this field of endeavor. Mr. Edison says : " I believe that any person, even 
of the most limited capacity, could become an inventor by sheer hard work. You 
can do almost anything if you will keep at it long enough. Of course, the man 
with a natural aptitude would get there first, but the other plodder would even- 
tually gain his point. The constant brooding on the one thing is sure to develop 
new ideas concerning it, and these in turn, suggest others, and soon the com- 
pleted idea stands out before you. Above all things a man must not give up, 
once he has outlined his plan of action. Once fairly on your way, don't stop 
because of some seemingly impossible obstacle in front of you. What you 
want may be just beyond your nose, though you do not see it. I once had that 
fact forcibly presented to me. I was working on an invention, and finally 
reached a point when I could go no further. The thing lacked something, but, 
try as I might, I could not tell what it was. Finally, I got angry at it, and 
threw the whole business out of the window. Afterward, I thought how foolish 
the action was, and I went out and picked up tlie wreck. In putting it together 



290 THE SPEAKING OAK 

again, I saw just what was needed. Repairing the broken portions suggested it, 
and it was so simple that I wondered I had not seen it before. Now that shght 
addition to the apparatus could have been ascertained by a little thoughtful 
experimentation. I suppose I found it out quicker because of the ' accident,' 
but that does not alter the moral of the incident." 

It is painstaking, persistent endeavor, which tells in the religious world. 
What new worlds of thought and feeling are opened to the heart which is per- 
sistent in its meditation and devotion ! What vast results follow the efforts of 
those who labor for the Divine Master, year in and year out. It is the one who 
holds out in the race, who wins the prize; who remains faithful unto death, 
who secures the crown of life. 



THE LEADER OF A MURDEROUS MOB CONVERTED 



^ 



I 



WAS appointed to a church in a Western town, near which the "White 
Caps" operated quite extensively. They were disguised, self-constituted 
guardians of justice. They treated the neighbors to a "hanging bee" 
every now and then. A saloon-keeper had killed a man in the town 
where our church was situated, and was in the county jail awaiting trial. The 
lynchers concluded that it was about time for another picnic, and with sledge- 
hammers broke in the doors of the jail. The prisoner, who was a powerful man, 
fought the mob desperately with a heavy chair, which he found, until he was over- 
powered by them and hurried to a railroad bridge near the village, where they fast- 
ened one end of a rope about his neck and the other to a beam, and pushed him off 
into Eternity. The excuse the lynchers gave was that the brother of the prisoner, 
being the most influential politician of his party in the county, would never 
permit a conviction in the trial, and that they had better take Time by the fore- 
lock and maintain the security of the community. The hanging occurred a 
short time before my appointment to the charge. Disrespect for law and order 
was manifest ; I felt it my duty as a public teacher to rebuke it. On Sunday 
night I preached a sermon on " Thou shalt not kill," in which I charged the 
mobbers with being as mean murderers as the man they hanged, except that 
they were more cowardly than he, waiting until the law had shut him up in a 
cell and tied his hands, and then breaking his neck. I said that if the prisoner had 
been in the open street, with a revolver in each hand, not one of the lynchers 
would have dared approach him, but would have been as polite to him as French 
dancing masters. I did not know at the time that some twenty or thirty mem- 
bers of my congregation had taken a part in the sport of the hanging. If I 
had known the fact, it would not have changed the character of the message, 
except, perhaps, to make it more severe. The next day a leading man in the 
town called on me to give me a word of advice and caution ; he said he was my 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 291 

friend, and wanted to talk frankly and affectionately. He said that the temper 
of public sentiment' in the town was such that it would be unsafe for me per- 
sonally to speak as I had done on the night before ; that some of the best 
people of the town were in the mob, and that if I continued to say such severe 
things about them the good people of the community could not be responsible 
for my safety. I told him I was not afraid of any one of such cowards and that, 
much as I enjoyed life, I should count it worth very little if, as a servant of 
God and a guardian of public morals, I failed to protest against the anarchy 
which threatened the place. 

Toward the end of the week a gentleman called at the parsonage and said 
to me : " I have a matter of grave importance about which I would like to 
talk." Dropping his voice almost to a whisper, he said : " Is there any one else 
in the house ? " I said, " Yes, my wife and children are in the house, but they 
are in the back part and will not hear anything you may have to say." He said : 
" I want to talk to you as a Catholic would to a priest. I wish to make a con- 
fession, which, of course, you understand you are not to reveal. I have not 
slept much since your sermon Sunday night. I was the ringleader of the mob ; 
had more to do with organizing and directing it than any other man. I did 
not realize the enormity of my crime until confronted by your terrific arraign- 
ment. When you said that those composing the mob were murderers and, if 
unforgiven, they would be settled with at the judgment day, a voice said to me, 
* You are a murderer,' and that voice has been sounding in my ear until it has 
almost set me crazy, and because I cannot stand it any longer I am here to 
confess to you and ask you what I can do to get peace. I cannot bring the man 
back to life ; I wish I could. What can I do? " I said to him, " Make the con- 
fession to God which you have made to me and earnestly ask his forgiveness. 
Give yourself to Christ, who died on the cross that you might be pardoned, and 
enter upon a life of love, of loyalty to God and to your fellow men." Trembling 
with emotion, he fell down upon his knees, and I kneeled beside him. In 
agony of prayer we wrestled until he found relief, and, arising from the floor, he 
said, " Christ's blood atones for me. My Heavenly Father forgives my sin 
and accepts me as his child." With a happy face, he exclaimed, " I shall do 
what I can to undo my awful deed," and he did. He went amongst his old com- 
panions, telling them what a dear Saviour he had found, and in a revival that 
soon followed, fully one-half of those composing the mob professed conversion 
at our altar and united with the church. It has been twenty-five years since 
the confession was made, and the ringleader remained ever after a faithful and 
efficient worker in the Sunday School and church. 

In these times of conservatism, when the mild side of truth is emphasized 
so much, it seems a difficult and unpopular task for the moral teacher to dwell 
upon the severe side of truth — to rebuke sin as it deserves to be — and yet there 
are times when there is no kind of preaching which yields such speedy and 



292 THE SPEAKING OAK 

ample returns or which secures so completely the favor of heaven, as a wise and 
fearless arraignment of wrong-doing and wrong-doers. A minister has no 
business, under a false idea of dignity, to go about with a chip on his shoulder, 
or, with a wrong notion of justice, to walk around with a club in his hand 
hunting for some one to strike. Such a course would embitter his spirit and 
sour his people ; but there do come times when it is the preacher's duty to de- 
nounce sin with all his might and to warn his people that if they do not forsake 
the sins which they are habitually committing they will be lost, and lost forever. 
Short-sighted people thought that my sermon against the mobbers had ruined 
me and destroyed the work of the church during the year, but, while a question 
of policy never entered my mind, nothing I could have done could have brought 
me so many friends or have secured, so manifestly, the favor of heaven, as that 
sermon. The Holy Spirit sanctified the (juickening of the public conscience 
in an awakening which resulted in the addition of a hundred and fifty new 
members to a membership of one hundred and twenty in a town of but fourteen 
hundred people. There are times when there is no Gospel message which is so 
salutary as the Ten Commandments. 



EARLY CHILDHOOD OF CHARLES SPURGEON 



M 



R. SPURGEON addressed five thousand people twice a Sabbath in the 
same place for thirty years in succession. There have been men deeper, 
Ig^^gg^ broader, more brilliant, more learned, more eloquent ; but since the world 
began few speakers in church or state ever held the attention of so many 
people to any one subject for so long a time. He was born in the parsonage of the 
Congregational Church at Kelvedon, in Essex. His grandfather also was a Con- 
gregational minister. The blood he received from his ancestors was full of vigor 
and virtue. His mother was a woman of ability and piety, a model minister's 
wife, of whom he was singularly fond and proud. We do not find in these 
parents flashes of genius, and we cannot expect to find them in the boy. But 
we find in them traits which to him in his calling, are more necessary than 
genius — good ability to think, enormous ability to work, phenomenal piety, and 
a purpose unconquerable as the arm of God. The boy started out into life 
with hereditary traits that promised to make him a great preacher, if the world 
should give him a chance. It is a strange fact that the most potential outer 
influences on the boy's life were not received at his own, but at his Grandfather 
Spurgeon's home. His grandfather was pastor of the church at Stamborne, 
and the babe was only a year old when he was taken to his grandfather's house 
to live, where he remained till he was a boy seven years old. Grandparents love 
their grandchildren as much as they do their own children. Some old people are 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 293 

crowded into a corner and made to feel that they are in the way, and nothing 
could be more ungrateful and contemptible than such treatment, but most of 
them are treated with reverence and affection, and sweetness and love are given 
in return. To banish the grandparents from society would leave it barren and 
lonesome. At the grandfather's, there lived a maiden sister, Ann Spurgeon, 
and this maiden aunt devoted her whole time to the care and training of the 
boy, and it is likely that she was the most potent outer factor in the formation 
of his character and destiny. She taught him the Bible and Puritan theology, 
and Pilgrim's Progress, and gave a bent to his nature which it retained ever 
after. Old maids are sometimes laughed at, but not in earnest, for the world 
knows their value. They are modest, unselfish, effective toilers ; they could not 
be spared from their sphere of activity, especially from the school and the home. 
The maiden aunt at Stamborne, preached her thoughts and feelings to the thou- 
sands for thirty years, through the clay she had so much to do with moulding. 
Spurgeon respected and loved this aunt almost as a mother. 

The modest toilers in the home do not realize how far-reaching their influ- 
ence and service is upon the life and destiny of children. There may not 
be the development of character that shall excite the notice of a nation, but 
children, well trained in morals and religion, however humble may be their 
lot, will become kings and priests unto God and wear a royal diadem. 



A JOURNEYMAN-PRINTER TELLS HOW HE FIRST 

MET LINCOLN 



KNOWING that Captain Gilbert J. Greene was a life-long friend of Lincoln, 
I once asked him how he first happened to meet the martyred President, 
and of this incident he gave the following interesting account : 

'* I was tramping the State of Illinois, from south to north, when I 
came upon the farmhouse of Jacob Strauss, who owned forty thousand acres 
of land in the centre of the State. Finding that I was going to pass through 
Springfield the next day, Mr. Strauss told me he would keep me over night if I 
would carry some papers to a lawyer in the capital. He said the lawyer's name 
was ' Abe ' Lincoln, 'a very smart man.' I started next morning at sunrise. The 
road to Springfield was straight, and the country so level that I could see the sun 
reflected from the State-house dome, thirty-five miles away. There was snow on 
the ground, and the weather was biting cold. I reached a little, unimportant office, 
at nightfall, and saw the legend, ' A. Lincoln, attorney,' on a plain strip of black tin 
on the door. I knocked, and a voice replied, ' Come in.' Entering, I found Lin- 
coln sitting on an old-fashioned, splint-bottomed chair, before a great wood fire, 
with feet against the mantel, higher than his head, and reading a copy of the Louis- 



294 THE SPEAKING OAK 

ville Journal. I handed him the papers. Taking them, he said: ' I didn't think 
the old codger would send a horse out such a day as this.' Finding that I had no 
money, he took a five-dollar bill out of his pocket and gave it to me, saying he 
would charge it up to his client, as it was worth ten dollars to bring the papers in 
such weather. Then, taking up the newspaper he had laid down, he wrote on the 
white margin, ' Mr. Wilson, take care of this boy until to-morrow, or longer, if the 
weather is bad, and send the bill to me. A. Lincoln.' Tearing this off and hand- 
ing it to me, he pointed through the window to a hotel across the square, and told 
me to go there and remain until 1 was able to resume my journey. As I was 
leaving the hotel the next morning, to continue my journey, a man brought a note 
from Mr. Lincoln, which read as follows : 

" * Mr. Wallace, Peoria : 

" ' Dear Sir: — This boy wants to reach the Rock River country, somewhere 
near Beloit. If he needs any assistance, and you can help him in any way, it will 
be appreciated, and I will be responsible. 

" 'Yours, A. Lincoln.' 

" When I arrived at my destination, I wrote a letter of thanks to the homely, 
kindly lawyer who had befriended me ; and a personal correspondence was 
begun with him, which ended only with his death. He got a place for me in a 
printing office at Springfield, where I, though only a boy, was permitted to 
enjoy his intimate companionship. 

" Lincoln was one of the largest-hearted and most unselfish men who ever 
lived. He had an especial fondness for young men, and never allowed an oppor- 
tunity to befriend them to pass by unimproved." 

No one can calculate the new hopes that may be enkindled, or the mighty 
destinies that may be affected by a little kindly sympathy, offered even in the 
most modest way, to some young man or woman, struggling to get a start in life. 



LOOKED BACK AND LOST HIS WIFE 



URYDICE, the wife of Orpheus, was killed by the bite of a serpent. Her 
husband, heart-broken at her death, determined to make his way into the 
lower world, and, if possible, persuade its rulers to allow his loving com- 
panion to return to him. With nothing but a lyre in his hand, he entered 
the palace of Pluto, and played with such exquisite beauty upon it, that the inhab- 
itants of Hades were charmed. " The wheel of Ixion stopped, Tantalus forgot the 
thirst that tormented him, the vulture ceased to prey on the vitals of Tityos. and 
Pluto and Proserpine lent a favoring ear to his prayer." He was promised that his 
wife should return with him, but only on the condition that he should not look 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 295 

back until he had gotten beyond the boundaries of Hades. He broke the con- 
dition, and his wife, who had gotten part of the way with him, vanished from 
his sight forever. 

So many prizes in Hfe are lost by looking backward. The precious things 
of life are given to those who look forward. 

There is great peril in the divine life in turning backward. In getting 
away from the regions of darkness and sin and misery, there is everything to 
lose in looking behind. In leaving Sodom, it is unsafe to turn around ; in es- 
caping from a life of sin, it is absolutely necessary to keep the eyes steadily 
ahead. He who will keep his eyes ahead upon the Cross of Christ will have all 
the treasures of earth that are of any value, and those of immortality as well. 



TRIUMPHANT DEATH OF A JAPANESE STUDENT 



APAN, seeing the advantage of the Western, over the Oriental civilization, 
years ago began sending some of her most brilliant young men to various 
universities in Europe and America, to learn the literature, laws, indus- 
tries and customs of foreign nations, and to bring that knowledge back as 
practical information to their native land. I became acquainted with several of 
them, who attended the DePauw University in Indiana, twenty-five years ago. 
They were very keen in their intellectual apprehension, quick in their books and 
correct in their habits, and one or two of them were eloquent orators. One 
young man was instructed by his government to make American farming the 
subject of his special investigation. He was doing beautifully in his work, when 
he was attacked by consumption and wasted away to a mere shadow. I visited 
him frequently. I have seldom seen a rarer Christian character than he — so 
sweet in his contentment, so resigned to his lot, so happy in the hope of a blessed 
immortality. One day, on questioning him about the comforts of our religion, 
he replied : " The Holy Spirit is with me in my room all the time, and, better 
still, he is in my heart. I have not any word in your language, nor in mine, 
to express the sweetness which I have from that presence in my soul." In- 
quiring about his family, he answered : " My father is dead, but my mother 
is living. She had great hopes for me, and will be very sorry — will cry — when 
she hears that I cannot get well ; but I am glad to say she is also a Christian, 
and I believe our Heavenly Father will console her with the same spirit that 
comforts me. I wish I could have her by me now at the last, but I cannot, and 
I have given my final message to my Japanese companions to send to her. As 
I started away from home, mother said to me, ' My son, you are going far away, 
and are to be gone a long time ; you may not live to return, and if you should 
I may be dead when you get back. We will have this understanding: If I die 



296 THE SPEAKING OAK 

first, I will look out of the window of heaven which opens toward America, 
and will watch for you ; and if you go first, you will stand at the window of 
heaven which opens on Japan, and watch for me. Christ, you know, my son, 
has destroyed death, and whatever may happen, you and I v/ill live together 
forever.' " With face radiant with the upper glory, he said to me, *' I am not far 
away from that Mansion, and 1 shall do as I promised my mother — watch at the 
window which looks out on Japan and welcome her when she shall come." His 
body rested in the same altar at which, years before, a student was converted 
who, being sent to Japan as a missionary, was instrumental in the conversion 
of the young man whose funeral service was being held. 

From an earthly point of view, the death of this young man was peculiarly 
distressing. Possessing brilliant talent, with commission and pay from the 
government, with the splendid opportunities for contributing to the marvelous 
progress which the Japanese Empire has since made among nations, with the 
magnificent possibilities of Christian usefulness in his home-land, it seemed 
a pity for him to die so soon. But from a heavenly point of view the picture 
is not dark. AfTfliction developed in the young man and illustrated in his charac- 
ter the most admirable spiritual qualities ; and consumption, for such a soul, 
only opened the door of the cage and let the imprisoned spirit free. Instead of 
considering our dead as buried in the cemetery, how much more beautiful to 
regard them as inhabitants of the Mansion, watching from the window, waiting 
for us! 



A TURTLE FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OLD 

N the marine turtle tank, in the reptile house at the Zoological Park of 
New York, there is a huge turtle whose head is over eight inches in diam- 
eter, and whose weight is a hundred and five pounds. It was captured by 
J. B. Freeland in a swamp near Plaquemine, La. The most singular 
thing about this creature is its age. Walter Rothschild, of London, an expert on 
tortoises, owns one which he claims is four hundred years old, and Dr. W. T. 
Hornaday, of the New York Zoological Society, asserts that the giant tortoise 
that they have just secured for their society is considerably older than that. 

We do not know by what method Dr. Hornaday can tell how old his 
turtle is ; how many years or hundreds of years it has lived in this world, 
but it is admitted that such creatures often live to be very old. If this tortoise 
had sense enough, and could express its thoughts, it might teach us a lesson 
of human fraility and mortality: might tell us of the successive generations that 
have been bom, have wrought and died. It might also teach a lesson of human 
strength and glory ; might tell how these struggling, laughing, crying, dying 
peoples have made great discoveries, built vast institutions, and contributed 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 297 

enormously to the sum of happiness and progress. But as it is neither a rea- 
soning nor a speaking creature, simply a turtle, we conclude that it is neither 
wiser nor more ignorant, neither better nor worse, with all its centuries of life, 
than it was the first year of its existence. With man it is different; his years 
bring intelligence or ignorance, virtue or vice, moral advancement or retrogres- 
sion. There are some long lives that are broad and deep — made so by the 
truths, the loves, the eternities that have been crowded into them; there are 
other long lives that are the opposite of them ; they are thin and empty because 
there has been so little thought, and so little done by them. Some old people 
grow more wicked and corrupt every day. It would be fortunate for themselves 
and for the world if they could live as harmless a life as that of the turtle. After 
all it is not the years, but the noble deeds that count. One year of personal 
holiness, of supreme love for God and service for fellow men is worth a thou- 
sand years of idleness, of selfishness, and sin. 



MOODY AND HIS BROTHER GEORGE 

REACHING upon the text, " Wherefore he is not ashamed to call them 
brethren," Dr. Pentecost, dwelling upon the advantages of having a 
King Brother at the right hand of God, in the great Day of Judgment, 
related the following incident: 
" During the last week of the Tabernacle meetings in Boston, when the 
great building, which would hold seven thousand people, did not serve to hold 
half those who desired to enter, was packed to its utmost capacity and the 
doors were closed, I chanced to be in charge of the ushers at Mr. Moody's 
private entrance. Two or three policemen stood guard on the outside. Chains 
were drawn across the open door to keep the people from crowding in. Men 
came up to the door-keepers, inventing all sorts of excuses and arguments, 
why they, in particular, should be allowed entrance. One man offered a ten 
dollar bill to a policeman to be allowed to enter. 

" * It is not a question of good-will or money,' said the officer, ' but the 
doors are closed and the orders are strict. Not another soul may enter.' 
Presently one gentleman came forward, and after quietly urging the policeman, 
in an unobtrusive and modest sort of way, said, ' I am in Boston only for the 
day, and am exceedingly anxious to hear Mr. Moody.' ' But you can't go in. 
Stand aside if you please. Don't press against the chain.' * But,' said the 

gentleman, in an under tone, * I am Governor , of ,' and presented 

his card. ' Well, Governor, I am very sorry. You must excuse me pushing 
you back. It is impossible for you to get in. Even if you should get by the 
chain, there is not room in the Tabernacle for another man to stand.' In 




298 THE SPEAKING OAK 

that outside crowd there were great merchants, distinguished men and women, 
and a host of common people, all desiring to enter. But they were on the out- 
side, and the ' door was shut.' Nothing would admit them, neither money, 
position nor influence. Presently there came, pushing his way through the 
crowd, a little man, with bronzed face, plainly clad, evidently a countryman. He 
came up to the policeman and said, ' I want to go inside if you please.' ' Well, 

you can't get in. Didn't you see me just now refuse Governor . Stand 

aside;' and the policeman laid his hand upon him. But the little man tip-toed 
up and called to me, who was standing just inside the chain, ' Would you be 
kind enough just to tell Dwight that his brother George, from Northfield, is 
out here and wants to come in.' You may be sure that I quickly stepped back 
and made my way though the private passage to the pulpit, where Mr. Moody 
was already standing, conducting the open service of song. ' Mr. Moody,' I 
said, ' there is a little man outside, who says he is your brother George, from 
Northfield, and says he wants to come in. Shall I let him in ? ' ' My brother 
George! Certainly. Make way for my brother George,' cried Mr. Moody, 
turning about and addressing the throng in the passage way. Way was made, 
and brother George was brought in. There was neither seat nor standing 
room, except one chair right in the pulpit which Mr. Moody occupied. But 
Mr. Moody reached down his hand, and taking the hand of ' brother George,' 
pulled him right into the pulpit. ' There,' he said, ' sit right down here by 
my side.' " It was worth something to " brother George " that he had a brother 
there in authority. Our other Brother opens the door into the Kingdom of God 
here, and the gate of pearl into heaven beyond. Who ever else is shut out 
in that day, the King will not be ashamed of his " brethren," though they be 
little and bronzed, and clad in mean attire, and cannot call themselves by high- 
sounding titles, or display their riches. It is blessed to be brother to him who 
is in the King's office. 



A MOTIONLESS NATION 



m 



N many parts of the United States on the day of President McKinley's 
funeral, aside from the cessation from labor, in obedience to the proclama- 
tion of President Roosevelt, there were the few moments of as near silence 
and inactivity as is possible to mortals. Electric wires were still, tele- 
phones were silent, elevated and surface street cars and railroad trains stood dead 
on the track. The throngs on the streets of the city stopped and were motionless, 
human voices were hushed that the voice of the Absolute might be more dis- 
tinctly heard, and the people thought, and wept, and prayed, and here and there 
feelings too deep for repression found relief in the song " Nearer, My God, to 
Thee." Nothing like this ever before occurred in our national history. There 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 299 

is a legend that at the birth of Jesus Christ everything stopped still. That night- 
birds flying in mid-air became motionless, that the shepherd reaching his crook 
toward the sheep held it still ; that people eating a meal held their hands midway 
between the dish and the month, and that everyone awake had a sudden inclina- 
tion to be still. Historically, this legend is very far from the truth, for there 
was almost nothing that the world thought less about, and paid less attention 
to, than the Babe that was born in Bethlehem, and yet in a deeper sense the 
fiction was fact. The world did stop still at the birth of the Babe and began its 
thoughts and acts anew from the impulse of His life and love. And whatever 
it has of goodness or greatness to-day, it has derived from Him. 

It was largely because William McKinley took this Babe of Bethlehem as 
his model, his Master, and his Saviour ; because he was Christlike in his spirit 
and his life, that the people of America stopped still to think and to mourn, when 
he was laid in the tomb. 



BOXED THE TRAIN-BOY'S EARS 



THERE was a train-boy, fourteen years old, on the Grand Trunk Railroad, 
who had unusual enterprise. He had the regulation stock of peanuts, 
candies, fruits and papers. The morning after the battle of Pittsburg 
Landing he persuaded the manager of the Detroit Free Press to let him 
have a thousand copies of the paper on credit. He got the telegraph operators 
along the line to put out the bulletin boards at the stations mentioning the account 
of the battle, and stating that full particulars would be found in the papers that 
would come on the next train. The newsboy found a perfect mob at every stop, 
and as his stock decreased his price was raised, and he made quite a sum out of 
his project. 

The boy was allowed one end of the baggage car for his wares. In this 
place he printed a little daily paper which he called The Grand Trunk Herald. 
He got the operators at the stations to tell him items of war news and printed 
them in his little sheet. 

Though a mere child, he was an omnivorous reader, and was especially fond 
of chemistry. A part of his end of the baggage car was used as a laboratory. One 
day he was experimenting with his chemicals, when he knocked over a jar of 
phosphorus and set fire to the car. Though the flames were soon extinguished 
the conductor was greatly enraged, and at the next station he put the boy off 
the train and tumbled the bottles and packages out after him. But the con- 
ductor did worse than this, he slapped the boy's ears so brutally that a deafness 
was caused which exists to this day. That train-boy was Thomas A. Edison, 
the great inventor. 

Almost no one of the century needed good ears more than Edison, whose 




300 THE SPEAKING OAK 

whole being was so sensitive to any hint or suggestion of Nature. That he has 
heard the voices of the subtile forces so distinctly under his physical disabilities 
is a marvel, and a tribute to his strength of will and keenness of intellect. 

There are some jolts and cuffs that boys receive that are just and are not 
harmful in their consequences, then there are others that are unjust and brutal 
and are widespread and long-lived in their evil results. Many a boy or girl 
has been struck spiritually deaf for life by a single blow of anger. 

There are times when one evil act may cause a damage to another which 
can never be repaired. 

^. ^. v> 

THE INFLUENCE OF BURNS OVER WHITTIER 

SCOTCH tramp visited the house of the father of John Greenleaf Whittier 
in the country, when the latter was a boy. The tramp having been fed in 
the kitchen, sang some songs of Burns — " Highland Mary," " Bonnie 
Doone" and " Auld Lang Syne." The boy was wild with delight ; this 
appreciation was evidence that he possessed poetic instinct, for Britain, since the 
days of Elizabeth had heard few such songs as those of Burns. When Whittier 
was fourteen, his first school-teacher, Joshua Coffin, while on a visit to his house 
read some selections from a volume of Burns' poems. The boy was so pleased 
with them that he asked the teacher to lend him the volume, which he did. 
Whittier, in a leaflet says, " This was about the first poetry I had ever read, with 
the exception of that of the Bible (of which I had been a close student), and it 
had a lasting influence upon me." The soul of the boy at this time was in such a 
receptive condition, that any true poet coming to him would have excited his 
admiration and imitation ; but it was peculiarly fortunate that Burns came to 
him at the start. This poor Scotch gardener, with scanty wages, living in a 
poor man's house, struggling against all kinds of misfortune and weakness, with 
genius enough to be the poet-laureate of the realm, but hired by the govern- 
ment to a menial task at fifty pounds a year, and yet discovering the richest 
truth in the most unlikely places, the purest gold in the roughest rocks, the 
costliest pearls in the homeliest shells ; finding the splendors of a palace under 
the roof of straw, the beauties of paradise amid the humblest earthly scenes, the 
divinest instincts in the breast of the lowliest and most forgotten, with a heart 
of sympathy for everything God has made, even the little mice in the nest up- 
turned by the plow, pouring the wealth of his affection without stint upon the 
hearts of his fellow men ; this is the poet whose verses fell like a fresh revela- 
tion upon the heart of a poor son of a poor farmer at Haverhill. What a pity 
that the Scottish bard should have had a will so weak, and appetites so strong, 
and that his rising sun, which promised such a glorious day, should have gone 
down at noon ! But he wrote some things that will last as long as the English 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 301 

language is spoken. What Bums was to Scotland, Whittier has been to 
America. Whittier had many of the virtues of Burns with none of his vices, and 
from first to last, made the poetry of the Bard of Ayr his model. His master- 
piece, " Snow Bound," is in imitation of Burns' " Cotter's Saturday Night," but 
is in every way superior to it, and is likely to live as long as the literature of the 
nation endures. 

Who can calculate the power of a book ; the power of a book upon the 
mind of a child ! What care there ought to be in the selection of books for 
children, since the intellectual companionship is so potential ! What a power 
one brilliant personality has over another! The better spirit of Burns was so 
inbreathed into that of Whittier that his songs in melody and charm seemed 
akin to those of the Scottish bard. There is a law that mind is permeable by 
mind. Wherever in the universe there are two spirits, each may be inbreathed into 
the other. By this law the uncreated Spirit can dwell in the created one. The 
Holy Spirit can be inbreathed into a human soul ; illuminating the intellect, puri- 
fying the affections, regulating the conscience, directing the will, and filling it 
with songs of sweetest melody, and prompting it to the divinest service. 



IT WAS HIS OWN BOY 



NUMBER of boys playing on the Recreation Pier at North Second 
street, Brooklyn, on a recent ofternoon, when the cry was raised that one 
of them had fallen into the river. He was a little fellow, only seven 
years old. It was a dangerous place to fall, for the water is deep and the 
current strong. One of the boys, with more presence of mind than the others, ran 
along the pier to the place where a policeman was on duty marshaling the boys 
who were going into the baths. He told the policeman of the accident, and the 
officer promptly ran to the place. Flinging off his tunic and helmet, he dived 
into the river, and soon came up with the boy. Holding him by one hand and 
swimming with the other, he reached the pier and passed him up to the hands 
stretched out to take him. Then, to his astonishment, he recognized in the boy 
his own beloved child. The shock was so great that the policeman came near 
swooning, but his delight when the child recovered consciousness, was beautiful 
to see. How thankful he must have been that he was so prompt in the effort. 

While some of the policemen of the great cities yield themselves to the 
sale of law and the protection of crime, a large majority of them are faithful to 
their trust and singularly unselfish in their lives. In their occupation of peril, 
in the protection of property and life, they are constantly performing acts of 
heroism which should receive the gratitude of the public. 

In the spiritual realm people are constantly falling into the water, and some 



302 THE SPEAKING OAK 

brave Christian must go into the water after them or they will be drowned. 
From the crowded docks children are frequently falling into the river of sin 
and crime, and Christ's life-savers must rescue them immediately or they will 
be lost. 

The man thought he was saving the son of some one else, when in reality it 
was his own he was rescuing. Every act of benevolence has more meaning in 
it than appears on the surface, has a larger reward than is at first promised. A 
heroic act has a great blessing for the man performing it, and for those who 
are nearest to him. A man who busies himself in saving others is very likely 
to save his own. 

Christ's human kinship is so deep and so wide that whoever be the parent the 
child is our brother; and every efifort to rescue him will be appreciated and 
rewarded by our Elder Brother. 

Men and women are constantly risking their own lives to rescue the multi- 
tudes who have fallen into the stream of barbarism and heathenism. 

^. v> ^* 

THE DANGEROUS CIGARETTE 



EDWARD WEINSCHRIEDER broug:ht action in the Supreme Court in 
Brooklyn for $10,000 damage against a firm of tobacco merchants. 
He was smoking a " Jumbo " cigarette, which, being charged with high 
explosives, went ofif, tearing three fingers from his left hand ; and the 
suit against the manufacturers was to secure damages from them. 

This " Jumbo " cigarette did only a little more suddenly what the ordinary 
one does with the average boy more slowly but as surely, injure his body and 
impair his usefulness. On» of the most pitiable wrecks in society is that of the 
boy or man of promise, whose physical, mental and moral faculties have been 
undermined by the cigarette habit. 



THE HEROISM OF A DOG 



DR. JOHN MANNING was bathing in the ocean at Asbury Park, when an 
undertow bore him out to sea. Exhausted with his vain struggles to 
make his way to the shore, and feeling that he would certainly perish 
unless relief immediately reached him, he gave loud cries for help. A St. 
Bernard dog, belonging to Mr. W. H. Smith, of Brooklvn. hearing his cries, and 
seeing his distressed condition, plunged into the water and swam out to him. Mr. 
Manning had just strength enough left to throw his arms about the strong neck of 
the dog, who brought him back to the shore and saved his life. The people on 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 303 

the beach were wild with their enthusiasm over the heroic deed of this animal, 
and gave cheer after cheer in his honor. 

There are scarcely any stories of heroism among animals that so thrill the 
hearts of the young people, and older ones as well, as those of the rescue of 
lost travelers in the Alps, by the noble St. Bernard. 

As we look at this dog, at his unselfishness, his life-saving instinct, we who 
know the value of a human life and somewhat of its destiny, ought to be more 
interested in the salvation of the bodies and souls of men. Many are being 
caught by the undertow and are being carried out to sea, and we must hasten 
to their rescue or they will be lost. 



A TRYING ORDEAL 



A SURGEON, assisted by his son, who was also a surgeon, was stricken with 
heart disease while performing an operation. The son had to instantly 
choose between duty to the unconscious form on the table or to the uncon- 
scious form on the floor. He did not hesitate. Picking up the fallen 
scalpel he completed the operation, and when the patient was safe his father was 
dead. 

The power to instantly reach the right decision under most trying circum- 
stances is not a matter of impulse, but of right training. The judgment must 
be disciplined and educated as well as the heart. 

There come times in the religious world when duty seems to lie in oppo- 
site directions, and the most careful judgment is puzzled to know what course 
to take. At such times the Holy Spirit is very near to the devout heart to give 
the Hght and guidance needed. 

^ ^ ^ 

THE YOUNG MISSIONARY TO INDIANA 



AFTER leaving the Lane Theological Seminary at Cincinnati, Ohio, Henry 
Ward Beecher was sent as a missionary to Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He 
and his wife went to housekeeping in a barn, which they cleaned out and 
furnished pretty much with their own hands. He received, as a salary, 
two hundred and fifty dollars from the Home Missionary Society, and was prom- 
ised a hundred and fifty dollars more by his congregation of twenty members. 
When he had a hundred and fifty people in his little church, he had all it would 
hold, but his heart was larger than his local society and he reached for the people 
round about him, preaching in the log houses and at camp-meeting gatherings with 



304 THE SPEAKING OAK 

powerful efifect. He preached a Gospel which he believed with all his heart. 
In referring to this missionary experience, he said : " I was sent into the 
wilderness of Indiana to preach among the poor and ignorant, and I lived in 
my saddle. My library was my saddle bags ; I went from camp meeting to 
camp meeting; and from log hut to log hut. I took my New Testament, and 
from it I got that which has been the very secret of any success that I have had 
in the Christian ministry." In two years he had made such a profound impres- 
sion upon the community by his brilliant, earnest evangelical labors, that he 
was called to a church at Indianapolis, where he remained eight years longer. 
The same success attended his labors at Indianapolis which he had had in his 
first charge. He was then called to Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. 

In speaking with Mr. Beecher once, about his ministerial experience in the 
West, he said to me it was invaluable to him, that he would not take anything 
in the world for it. He said he could never have enjoyed the kind of success 
he had in Brooklyn if it had not been for the experience he had had in Indiana ; 
that there was a liberty, a breeziness, an earnestness and intensity which made 
him more vigorous than he could have possibly been under other circumstances. 

Poverty and the wilderness, where there is the right spirit, are not barriers, 
but helps to success. They encourage a self-dependence, strength of will and 
manly vigor which are necessary to the highest mastery In life. They have 
developed some of the greatest men in every calling which the world has ever 
known. Unfaltering faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its acceptance as 
a vitalizing force in the soul is the secret of true success in life. 



^'IT WAS ALL MY FAULT; I FORGOT" 



THERE was a collision on the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, eight 
miles north of Cadillac, between a regular freight train and an extra pas- 
senger train, in which several were killed and injured. The wreck was 
caused by the engineer, Frederick Zimmerman, of the freight train, for- 
getting an order which was given him verbally to side-track his train several miles 
south of the scene of the incident and await the passage of the passenger train. 
Zimmerman, who was fatally injured, said just before he died, "It was all my 
fault ; I forgot." 

There is not a day passes in which there is not some one who suffers the 
penalty of carelessness. The newspapers are full of the reports of fatal acci- 
dents occasioned by the negligence of some one, but these accidents, lamentable 
as they are, are not so horrible as the spiritual injuries w^hich come as the 
result of neglect. People are having the spiritual life crushed out of them by 
collisions which might have been avoided, if there had not been the greatest 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 305 

carelessness in the discharge of duty. Very few people who make a moral 
wreck of life intend to be lost; most of them intend to be saved, but they are 
careless of the spiritual dangers that are on the track, and are crushed to death. 
There can scarcely be any remorse more agonizing than that of a soul, in the 
presence of spiritual ruin, which is compelled to take up the lament, " It was all 
my fault ; I forgot." It is an exceedingly dangerous thing for people to pay 
so little attention to such grave spiritual perils ; to charge the memory so lightly 
with things on which hang life or death. 

The death of poor Zimmerman by his own fault was a very serious thing, 
but not so serious as the death he brought to others by his neglect. It is a 
serious thing for a man to wreck himself morally by carelessness in the dis- 
charge of religious duty, but it is a still more serious thing for the man to 
allow spiritual ruin to come to his fellow men by his neglect of religious duty. 
We have not only been charged with the perilous duty of saving ourselves, but 
also of saving our fellow men. And it will be a fearful thing if we allow any 
whom God has placed on the train under our care to be destroyed by our 
religious neglect. It would be a terrible thing for parent or pastor or teacher 
or Christain worker in the presence of the everlasting ruin of friends and asso- 
ciates, and especially of those committed to their care, to be compelled to say, 
" It was all my fault ; I forgot." 



A NAVAL COMMANDER'S HEROISM 



COMMANDER CRAVEN came of a famous fighting race, and by his many 
acts of gallantry, combined with a highly chivalrous character, had 
earned through the service, the sobriquet of the " Sidney of the Amer- 
ican Navy." By his heroic death, he emphatically proved his right to 
the title by which he will for all time be known. 

In 1864, he was in command of the monitor, Tccumseh, and on August 5th, 
of that year, when Farragut made his famous attack on the defenses in Mobile 
Bay, Craven was given the honor, and the danger, of leading the fleet into battle. 
Mobile Bay was, at the time, thickly planted with torpedoes by the Con- 
federates, and while Craven was endeavoring to attack the ram Tennessee, his 
vessel struck one of these explosives, and a huge rent was made in her hull, 
which sent her quickly to the bottom. 

As she began rapidly to sink, the crew rushed up on deck, all knowing 
full well that there was not a minute to spare. As Craven sprang toward the 
turret stairs to escape, he met his pilot at the foot ; there was only room for one ; 
both knew that he who went up might be saved ; but the other was doomed. 
With that respect for discipline, so strong in the navy under every circumstance, 



3o6 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the pilot gave way to his commander, but Craven imperatively ordered him to 
ascend, saying, " After you, pilot." 

The pilot just managed to reach the deck, when the vessel plunged under- 
neath the waves, carrying with her her gallant commander. Such a story of 
heroism makes one think more of his race, and has a tendency to lift the human 
heart out of the dull treadmill of materialism into the higher altitude of noble 
thought and tender sentiment. Such unselfishness and sacrifice reminds us of 
the Spotless One, who died that we might live, who saved others but could not 
save Himself, The competitions, strifes, the bitter contests; the envies, the jeal- 
ousies, the revenges that make up so large a part of the average earthly life, 
are rebuked by the acts of such men as Commander Craven, and by the ex- 
ample and commands of Our Blessed Divine Alaster. 



THE FRIEND WHO MADE LINCOLN PRESIDENT 



FROM a group of the intimate friends of Mr. Lincoln, I learned many of 
the circumstances that led to his nomination for the Presidency the first 

time, and the important part Judge Davis had in bringing it about. 

Judge Davis was a huge man, weighing over three hundred pounds, he 
was also large mentally and morally ; his native ability, finished education, gentle- 
manly demeanor and unconquerable will, made him a superb manager of men. He 
instinctively assumed a mastery that was accorded to him. His first appearance in 
national politics was in the canvass for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln to the Pres- 
idency, in which contest his magnificent generalship was so illustrated that he im- 
mediately took a conspicuous and permanent place among the wise politicians of 
the country. He was the leader of the Lincoln forces in the Chicago Conven- 
tion, and more than any other was responsible for Lincoln's nomination. David 
Davis, Leonard Swett, of Chicago, Jesse D. Fell, of Normal, and others dom- 
inated the forces which placed Mr. Lincoln in nomination. But the chief credit 
is given to Judge Davis. Mr Swett said : " It is not generally known, but 
true, that Lincoln owed his nomination in i860 to the friends he made among 
the circuit attorneys, and particularly to Judge Davis." Jesse D. Fell wrote to 
a United States Senator : *' To Judge Davis more than any other man living 
or dead is the American people indebted for that extraordinary piece of goocl 
fortune, the nomination and consequent election of Abraham Lincoln." In 1836, 
the year after Mr. Davis went West, he was introduced to Mr. Lincoln at Van- 
dalia. 111., and the acquaintance formed ripened into the closest intimacy and 
intensest aflfection. Judge Davis rode the circuit, and Mr. Lincoln was one of 
the few attorneys who went all the way around with him. They stayed at the 
same tavern, often slept in the same bed, and became like brothers. And when 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 307 

the elements in the South and North were preparing for the conflict, and the 
times were calHng for a giant, Judge Davis and the circle of able lawyers, who 
stood nearest to Mr, Lincoln and knew him best, felt that he was the man for 
the times, and they determined that, if possible, he should be the nation's chief; 
and Mr. Lincoln, feeling within his breast the symptoms of a greatness that 
could not be suppressed, and hearing the voice of Destiny calling to him, en- 
couraged his friends to present his claims. They captured the State Conven- 
tion in Decatur in May with a shout, securing a unanimous recommendation of 
Mr. Lincoln for nomination to the Presidency, They set themselves to the more 
difficult task of taking possession of the National Convention, to be held in a few 
weeks at Chicago. They went to Chicago a week before the convention and 
opened their headquarters at the Tremont House. Judge Davis, who was a 
delegate-at-Iarge from the Decatur Convention, appointed on purpose to lead 
in Lincoln's interest, instinctively and by common consent became the com- 
mander-in-chief of all the forces. He organized the State delegation into com- 
mittees and assigned them work for almost every hour of the day and night, 
and by his good generalship the National Convention was secured for Mr. Lin- 
coln. And when the decisive ballot was cast, and he saw what he had ac- 
complished for his bosom friend, he broke down and wept like a child. Hearing 
that Thurlow Weed, who had managed the Seward forces, was sore at his defeat, 
he with Mr. Swett called on him, though they were both strangers to him. 
Among other things, Mr. Weed said : " You are a new hand in conventions 
and I am an old one ; now it is all over, I want you to tell me how you did it." 
They persuaded Mr. Weed to go with them to Springfield to confer with Mr. 
Lincoln about the campaign ; which he did. Letters in the Life of Thurlozv 
Weed show that Davis and Swett in the West, and Weed in the East, had the 
management of the Lincoln campaign. Mr. Lincoln recognized the service of 
his bosom friend in his behalf by appointing him to one of the highest judicial 
offices in the gift of man. At Lincoln's death, Judge Davis took charge of his 
affairs and settled his estate, keeping all the papers in his safe in Bloomington, 
carefully tied up with a piece of green braid. Having been so successful in 
making Lincoln President, he concluded he would like to be President himself, 
and he did reach an eminence during his Presidency of the Senate with only the 
frail life of Mr. Arthur between him and the Chief Magistracy. 

How powerful is the will of one strong man who holds his mind to a purpose, 
and does not allow anything to swerve him from it ! Judge Davis determined 
to make his friend Lincoln President, and did so. What an imperial will-force 
there was in a man who could make his friend President, and then come so near 
securing the prize for himself! 

We may not occupy exalted positions among men ; people may not talk 
about us, or put our names in the newspapers ; but, by the exercise of the will, 
through the help of the Divine Spirit we may become children of the King; and 



3o8 THE SPEAKING OAK 

then, if we shall conduct ourselves with the dignity and honor that becometh 
princes, we shall have a crown and a throne ; and by the employment of the will 
through grace divine, we may help our fellow men up to the position and glory 
of a royal estate. There is a " friend that sticketh closer than a brother " who 
can bring us to usefulness, to honor and immortality. 



CHILDREN PERISHING WITH THE FAMINE IN INDIA 



D 



R. KLOPSCH, after a graphic description of the sickening scenes of the 
Baroda poor-house, through which he had passed, full of famine-stricken 
victims, some writhing and groaning with cholera and others perishing 
with small-pox, dysentery and one kind of fever or another, said : " We 
were anxious to get away from this poor-house, but it occurred to us that thus far 
no children had been in evidence. So we made inquiry concerning them, and 
learned that they were kept in what is termed the kitchen. We asked to be shown 
there. 

" The kitchen in the Baroda poor-house must be seen to be realized. In a 
bamboo enclosure, under the supervision of a fat, turbaned Hindoo, sat three 
hundred skeletonized, diminutive creatures, all sickly and miserable and many 
of them totally blind. In the entire number there was not a single child which 
in our country would not be considered hopelessly afflicted with marasmus. 

" The sight of these poor little helpless human beings was saddening beyond 
description. Never have I seen anything approximating in abject misery and 
utter destitution this gathering of innocents. Not a cry escaped their lips. The 
place was as silent as the abode of death. Hardly a hand stirred. Not a sound 
was heard. With the exception of the blinking of the eyelids there was no indi- 
cation of life. Had our own eyes been sightless, we could have passed by this 
place in total ignorance of the presence of a living being. We walked in and no 
one paid the slightest attention to our movements. 

" The Hindoo seemed as lifeless as the children. The sanitaty conveniences 
and the kitchen were one. 

" We reached the centre of the enclosure. The Hindoo looked on silently. 
The wdiole concern seemed dazed. We ourselves were dazed. Stupor was 
creeping upon us. Death seemed to be encircling the Baroda kitchen and all 
it contained, first mercifully benumbing the senses, as the surgeon adminsters 
an anaesthetic before he performs the operation. 

" Suddenly there was a stir. Two men bearing a can of milk appeared in 
front of the Baroda tent. The children became animated. The Hindoo revived. 
He came over to where we were standing and informed us that milk was to be 
given to the feebler children. We followed him to the entrance and watched 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 309 

its distribution. As soon as some of the tin cups were filled the children scram- 
bled for them. There was not enough for more than a fourth of the number, 
and the more vigorous ones got what there was. The feebler ones went with- 
out it. 

" Some of them were too weak to rise. They cried inaudibly, but their grief 
was more pitiful than if it had sought noisy expression. Perhaps punishment 
awaited every demonstration on their part, and hence they dared not complain. 
God only knows. We protested against the totally inadequate supply of milk 
and lack of proper management. The Hindoo explained that more milk would 
be served in the evening. Eight long hours ! And then, perhaps, only as much 
more. How could these hungry ones survive? 

" We asked the Hindoo hoAv many little ones died daily. He professed igno- 
rance, but volunteered the information that their bodies were burned. I verily 
believe that very few, if any, of the twelve hundred who were in the Baroda 
poor-house that morning ever came out alive. It was a veritable dead-house, 
and those who once entered seemed hopelessly doomed." 

The cry of a child can be heard a long distance. The cry of the fatherless 
and motherless children of India has been heard around the world, arid has 
awakened the people of our land somewhat, to a sense of their privilege and 
duty, so that, by the imspeakable eloquence of lips mute in death, our Heavenly 
Father has taught us the lesson of universal need and inspired benevolences, 
which will not only care for the bodies, but also feed with the Bread of Life, 
the famishing souls of the little ones for whom Christ died. 



WHY THE LOTUS BLOOMS ON THE NILE 



T"^ 



A MAN stood one day on the banks of the Blue-Nile, and gazed long and 
lovingly on the white and golden scene of beauty with which the lotus 
crowned the river with glory. "Do you know," said his Arab guide, "why 
that heavenly blossom grows in this turbid stream?" " I suppose it is be- 
cause God so ordered it," he answered in simple faith. The Arab bowed low to- 
ward Mecca and continued. " Once there was no flower growing along the banks 
of these waters, and a little child lay dying on the sands, w^ho lifted her eyes 
toward the sacred mountains, and breathed this prayer : ' Great Allah, lover of all 
that is good and best, I have done nothing in this life of mine, so soon to end on 
earth, grant when I die, that I may help a little in thy work with men.' And so her 
prayer was answered, and ever since, this heavenly child, when the tide of the 
Nile goes down, scatters lotus seeds along the river bank, and they spring into 
life and burst into loveliness, seeming to say, ' God is God and Mahomet is his 
prophet.' " 



3IO THE SPEAKING OAK 

Along the streams of time there are flowers blooming which have grown 
from seeds scattered by the fingers of the darling little ones who have gone away 
from us to heaven. From the singular beauty of the flowers, and the delicious 
fragrance which they breathe, we know that the seeds from which they have 
sprung belong to another world. 

One moonlight night I was walking with a gentleman friend when he said 
to me, " I had a little brother whom I loved better than my life. We were 
together almost every waking hour at home, school and play. We went to the 
millpond one evening for a swim, and my brother got beyond his depth and was 
drowned. We were all crazy with grief. He was my partner and pet and I fairly 
cried my eyes out in my loneliness. It seemed as though no one else was living 
and that I had nothing more to live for. After suffering this agony for some 
time I had a dream one night. In it my brother came back to me. His clothing 
was so beautiful, and his face was lovely beyond expression. His face was all 
that could be desired by me, but it had gotten an added beauty in the realm 
from which he came. He said to me, ' Brother, I asked my Heavenly Father to 
let me come back to you and tell you not to cry any more for me. I live in such 
a lovely place, and am so happy, that you must rejoice and not shed tears when 
you think of me. Promise me that you will not cry any more, and that you will 
be a good boy and join me again. The good old times we had together are only 
the beginning of the glorious times we will have together forever.' I promised 
him, and he put his arms about my neck and kissed me and went away from me. 
When I awoke the next morning much of my heart-sickness was gone, and instead 
of crying, I rejoiced that brother was in such a happy place and that I should be 
with him again." I told my friend the Arab's story of the origin of the lotus 
flower, and said, ** Your brother came from the other world to scatter seeds in 
the river's edge to bring forth lovely flowers for you." 



DOING THE WILL OF GOD 



REV. DR. GEORGE S. PAYSON, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at 
Inwood-on-the-Hudson, used the following apt illustration : 

" My fountain pen is a convenience. I carry it with me wherever I 
go. It saves time and trouble, and if by any chance when I leave home I 
fail to take it with me, I miss it. It is always ready to do just what I wish, and it 
does it quickly and well. And I prize it accordingly. 

" But its usefulness depends wholly upon its being an instrument of my will. 
Should it act independently, supposing it could, I would disown it at once. I 
must. I could not safely do otherwise. It might ruin me by signing fraudulent 
papers, or by misrepresenting my views upon important subjects, or by issuing 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 311 

orders to those accustomed to look to me for direction. As an instrument it is 
valuable and useful ; but only as an instrument. 

" God can use us for his glory when we have wholly yielded to his will, and 
only then. We are not, like pens, destitute of life and of free-agency ; but we 
can use our free wills to choose to do the will of God, and so become as it were 
mere instruments, though highly organized instruments, to do whatever he 
desires to have done. And this is the true use of the human will — to make its 
powers instrumental of doing the Divine Will. When we have no will of our 
own opposed to his; when we are willingly the will-surrendered instruments of 
his will to do anything and to say anything which he directs, or to bear any- 
thing which he appoints, then and then only can he use us with delight. But 
if in any degree we insist upon doing as we please and being independent of 
him ; if we will not surrender ourselves unreservedly into his hands ; if we will 
not do the will of God from the heart, as unto God and not unto men, then we 
cannot experience the blessedness of holy living. The holiest and most blessed 
of earthly lives had this for its sole aim, * I came not to do mine own will, but 
the will of Him who sent me.' And just in so far as we follow Christ, this 
must and will be the chosen aim of our lives." 



A BRAVE MOTHER SAVES HER CHILD 

RiIDING on the train from Washington to New York, a gentleman who got 
I on the car at Baltimore said to me, " Is this seat engaged ? " " No, sir," 
I replied, and moved to make room for him. His big valise and mine, 
and the two owners, more than filled the space allowed. As I was deeply 
interested in a book, I did not stop reading to engage in conversation. As we 
approached Philadelphia, the gentleman asked me how far it was to Wayne Junc- 
tion. I told him only a little distance. He said he was going to Buffalo and did 
not wish to miss the connection. I said, " You are going to the Pan-American 
Exposition, I presume." " Yes," he answered, " and I have come a long way 
to attend it." "From where?" I inquired. He replied, ''From Galveston, 
Texas." In appearance he was not a typical Texan, but his Southern brogue 
was pronounced. I said, " Were you in Galveston during the storm ? " He 
said, " Yes, I was." I told him I was sorry that I had not known the fact 
before, as I should have liked to have him tell me some incidents connected 
with the disaster. I suggested that, as he would not reach his station for at 
least twenty minutes, he might take the time to relate two or three. He said, 
" I will gladly do so ; this is one : There was a gay young girl, fond of society, 
living in our city, who became the wife of Dr. Longena, the surgeon of the 
United States Post. When the storm began he went to help the fellow- 



312 THE SPEAKING OAK 

officers who were down closer to the gulf, not dreaming that there would be 
any danger to his own home. He found that the water had covered the 
quarters close to the gulf, and it was learned afterwards that twenty-eight of the 
soldiers there had been drowned. When he turned to go back to his own 
home he found that the flood had cut off his retreat, and he took refuge in the 
home of an ofTicer near by, little dreaming that his own home was already in 
danger. 

His wife, thus left alone, informed her father, who is the cashier in a 
bank, of her peril, and he sent a message telling her to put on her bathing suit 
and hasten with her three-months-old baby to a house which he thought would 
be secure, a half mile further from the beach. She started, but had gotten 
only a little distance from her home when she found places where the water 
was too deep for her to wade, and so she swam across them, breasting the 
fearful current and clinging to her child. At last she reached the house, in 
which twenty-two others had taken refuge. Soon after she had entered it 
the house came down. She crawled up on the roof, where, in her bathing suit 
and her child in one arm, she clung till morning. She was so afraid that her 
child would die from exposure and for want of food that she got off the roof and 
started for shelter and food. Through the water and the debris she made her way 
a distance of three miles to a hotel, which had stood the storm, and the two 
were saved. The husband was also saved. 

I said to my companion : " I thank you very much for that incident. It is a 
good one. Opportunities call out the best qualities of the individual. You 
would hardly have suspected that this society girl, this soft-handed child of 
ease, would have displayed such courage in fighting the storm, or such heroism 
in saving the babe. It is the tragic events that give rise to the sublimest 
heroism. The young mother was bent on saving the life of her child, and in 
doing so she saved herself. What a shelter true motherhood gives to helpless 
infancy! From how many material and spiritual storms imperiled childhood 
is saved by brav(% true, consecrated Christian motherhood ! " 



THE MAN WHO CURSED HIS COUNTRY 



THE unhappy result of even a momentary and heedless lapse from patriotism 
is well illustrated by Edward Everett Hale's story, lite Man Without a 
Country, which, while it reads like history, has in reality no foundation on 
fact. Philip Nolan is a young soldier, on duty at Fort Adams, and is 
charmed by the manner and character of Aaron Burr. After Burr's trial for trea- 
son, the soldiers at Fort Adams whiled away their monotony holding mock court- 
martials. Nolan was accused of being tired of the service, and being found guilty. 




SHE CRAWLED UP ON THE ROOF 



(313) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 315 

was asked if he had anything to say for himself. He cursed the United States and 
said, '* I wish I may never hear of the United States again." The soldier was 
taken at his word and placed on board ship, with orders that he was never to see 
the United States again, nor ever to hear its name mentioned. From that day in 
1807 till the day he died in 1863, he was a man without a country. 

The day before he died he called one of the officers on the ship to him, 
told him of his wretchedness, and of his real love for his country. He saw 
thirty-four stars on the flag, and begged to know the names of the States that had 
been admitted and of the progress of the country. That night he died, and in his 
Bible this text was marked, " They desire a better country, that is an heavenly: 
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for 
them a city." 

Human government is a Divine institution. In a good government loyalty 
to country is made out of the same material as loyalty to God. There are some 
who have a very poor estimate of the value of American citizenship. They have 
not the faintest idea of the privileges and responsibilities which it implies. Some 
who come to our shores with false notions of authority, seem, by some Satanic 
frenzy, to cry out and fight against the very institutions that offer them the richest 
blessings. And some who are born in our own land are poisoned by the same spirit, 
and they do not hesitate to slay the officers of the law, and are happiest when the 
Chief Executive, the model ruler, the idol of the nation, is stricken down. It is 
time for the shame and crime to cease. The country is waking up, alas ! too tardily, 
to the task of keeping or sending away from the shelter and sight of our flag, 
those who hate it so much. 



HARRISON'S INCORRUPTIBILITY 



GENERAL HARRISON'S moral sensibilities were exceedingly delicate and 
true. His conscience was quick as the apple of the eye. Quick to sense 
the right, the whole bent of his nature was toward it. There was not the 
least variation or prevarication about him. His word was truth. What 
he said he meant, and what he seemed to be he was. He was a puritan in his char- 
acter, so sterling were his virtues. In an immense practice, with thousands of 
opportunities for unfair dealing, he was scrupulously honest. He passed through 
a campaign, in which there is generally an insane fondness for slander, without 
the scratch of the finest brier or the stain of the smallest finger-print. Some 
of his bitterest political enemies pay the highest tributes to his incorruptibility. 
Ex-President Grover Cleveland, who was defeated by him and then defeated 
him, on hearing of his death, said : " Not one of our countrymen should for a 
moment fail to realize the services which have been performed in their behalf 
by the distinguished dead. In high public office he was guided by patriotism 



3i6 THE SPEAKING OAK 

and devotion to duty, and in private station his influence and example were 
always in the direction of decency and good citizenship. Such a career and 
the incidents connected with it, should leave a deep and useful impression upon 
every section of our national life." 

General Harrison's consciousness of rectitude and rigid habit of self-control 
gave dignity to his manner and contentment to his spirit. Epictetus said, " Hap- 
})iness is not in strength, for Myron and Ofellus were not happy ; not in wealth, 
for CrcEsus was not happy ; not in all these together, for Nero and Sardanapalus 
and Agamemnon sighed and tore their hair, and were the slaves of circumstances 
and the dupes of semblances. It lies in yourselves ; in true freedom ; in the 
absence or conquest of every ignoble fear; in perfect self-government, and in 
a power of contentment and peace and the even flow of life." A wiser than 
Epictetus has said, " He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a 
city." The moral purity of his character not only gave to General Harrison 
true dignity and contentment, but it was a source of untold power to him in 
his profession and in his political promotion. 



SELF-SACRIFICE IS LIFE 



A 



N apple is an arrested branch. Each apple in the orchard hangs at the end 
of the twig to which it is attached. A terminal bud, which otherwise 
might have formed woody fibre and added to the size of the tree, is, by a 
regular law of nature, turned aside from this course and developed into 
blossom and fruit instead. As a branch, it could have but a limited range of devel- 
opment and of growth on the tree to which it remained attached. But, giving itself 
to fruit, it either perpetuates itself in the several independent trees which may 
spring from its buried seeds, or it at once ministers to the welfare of man, and so 
attains the end for which it was created. In this field of nature, as in all others, we 
catch some foregleams of the truth which our Master taught when He said, " He 
that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life shall keep it unto life 
eternal." Here is, at least, the prophecy of unselfishness. It may not be strictly 
philosophical to say that the act of reproduction in grains or mosses or trees 
has any moral character ; but, so far as it indicates the tendency of nature's 
work, it certainly suggests unselfishness rather than selfishness. Down at the 
very bottom or nature's work this tendency appears — in the protoplasmic cell 
which can only be studied under a microscope. There the two great processes 
begin which characterize all life — nutrition and reproduction. As Professor 
Drummond once said : " At one moment, in pursuance of the struggle for life, 
it will call matter from without, and assimilate it to itself; at another moment, 
in pursuance of the struggle for the life of others, it will set a portion of that matter 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 317 

apart, add to it, and finally give it away to form another life. Even at its dawn, 
life is receiver and giver ; even in protoplasm is self-ism and other-ism. These 
tendencies are not fortuitous. They have been lived into existence. They are 
not grafts on the tree of Hfe ; they are its nature, its essential life. They are 
not painted on the canvass ; they are woven through it." 



THE CRACKING OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 



THE magnificent cathedral of St. Paul's, in London, has been seriously dam- 
aged. Walls have been cracked, arches broken, windows shattered, and 
parts of the building that used to inspire the observer with admiration 
and awe, excites feelings of pity and regret. The immense weight of the 
superstructure was all that the foundation could bear originally, but the tunneling 
for the underground railroad caused the foundation to sag a little, and make the 
trouble above. It is claimed that the concussion of the trains will greatly increase 
the damage. 

It is a sad thing to see so superb a structure damaged in such a way, and 
yet it is the illustration of the cracked walls, broken arches, and shattered win- 
dows of character, caused by the vices that dig about its foundation. This 
present world, with its push and its dash, and its enterprises, if there be not ex- 
treme caution, will let down the foundation of the spiritual temple where God 
is worshiped, and where he dwells. 

^. ^ ^ 

GLADSTONE'S LETTER TO MRS. SPURGEON 



FOR three months Mr. Spurgeon hung between life and death. During that 
time all the leading dailies of London printed bulletins announcing his 
condition. Visitors of distinguished rank in Church and State called at 
his residence. Messages of sympathy poured in from every portion of 
the globe ; among them letters from the Bishop of London, the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria. Mr. Gladstone's letter to Mrs. 
Spurgeon was as follows : " In my own home, darkened at this present time, I read 
with sad interest the accounts of Mr. Spurgeon's illness. I cannot help conveying 
to you an earnest assurance of my sympathy and of my cordial admiration, not 
only for his splendid powers, but still more for his devoted and unfailing charac- 
ter. I humbly commend you and him in all contingencies to the infinite stores 
of Divine love and mercy." Mrs. Spurgeon answered this letter, to which her 
husband added this postscript : " Yours is a word of love, such as those only 



3i8 THE SPEAKING OAK 

write who have been into the King's country, and seen much of His face. My 
heart's love to you." 

What a wonderful kinship of love to God and fellow men between these 
two great men ! It is a fortunate nation that could have such men in the pulpit 
and the forum, as Spurgeon and Gladstone, who have contributed so much to 
the recognition of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. 

^ ^ ^ 

DAMAGE DONE BY A FAST YOUNG MAN 



HERE was a young lawyer who lived down in Egypt, in Southern Illinois, 
in the corn-growing belt w'hich is skirted by the Ohio River. He had not 
the advantages of a liberal education, but he was competent and indus- 
trious and became a good counsellor and an excellent advocate. He had 
a large and lucrative practice, and at the ripening time of his life he was elected to 
the Judgeship of the circuit in which he lived. He was economical and thrifty, 
and finding that his income was larger than was necessary for a comfortable sup- 
port, he made judicious investments which, in the course of years, grew into quite 
a little fortune, for that region. In a city in an adjoining State there was a young 
man who had entered a store when a small boy, to sweep out, attend to the fires, 
dust the goods, etc., who had been so apt, diligent and faithful to the tasks com- 
mitted to him, that he had been advanced in his position and income, until he 
had become the chief salesman of the house, with a most excellent salary. He 
was a model young man in every regard ; he was business from head to foot ; 
was polite in his demeanor, and very popular with the customers. He was very 
frank in all his representations, and fair and square to the minutest detail in his 
dealings ; having been raised in a religious home, he retained his Christian in- 
tegrity and became an efficient worker in the Sunday School and Church to 
which he belonged. The young man was naturally ambitious to start a business 
of his own, and having saved some money out of his salary, he cast his eye 
about for some capitalist who would put money against his experience. Learn- 
ing of this judge, in Illinois, who had money to lend, he visited him, and made 
such an impression upon him that he agreed to back the young man up with 
several thousand dollars to found a new business house, and to publicly become 
his partner. A large store was rented, a splendid stock of goods was bought, 
and a large and lucrative trade was secured. As the years went by, the stock 
was greatly increased and money was made in large quantities. The man was 
considered one of the leading merchants of the city, was the superintendent of 
a Sunday School, and was one of the most influential and conspicuous officers 
in the church of which he was a member. But his successes had turned his head ; 
he got fat and lazy, hired people to do the planning which belonged to him. He 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 319 

began to live too high : was petted and spoiled by gay society ; and, beguiled by 
the wine cup, was enticed by the gaming-table and by evil companionships. His 
face began to get red and then purple ; his eye, that used to be so clear and sin- 
cere, had a wild look about it ; the level-headed, evenly poised man had become 
nervous and fidgety. He was beating about, apparently aimlessly, in office and 
store, but always with bad instinct enough to make his way to the corner saloon 
several times a day. Of course trade began to get away from him; the balancing 
of the books at the end of the year showed a loss instead of a gain, and in an 
incredibly short number of years the man went to pieces, and with him the 
great business he had founded, and with it the fortune of the judge. The judge 
had had such complete faith in the ability and honor of his partner, that he 
risked every dollar he had in the world on him, and had lost it. He took no 
part in the management of the business, retaining his residence and practice in 
his home town in Illinois. When he discovered the financial danger of the firm, 
it was too late to avoid the ruin which so swiftly overtook him. 

I was the pastor of that judge in the period of his financial distress and 
poverty. One day he told me the story of his misfortune and his wrongs. He 
said it was bad enough to lose the earnings of a lifetime, but the thing that 
made him feel worse, was that they were lost by the basest betrayal of trust. 
It was a pathetic picture I witnessed, as the little old man, with white hair and 
beard, wept over the story of his earthly loss and ill-treatment. Then he braced 
himself up. and with eye flashing with triumph, and with a smile of love, he said : 
" Well, pastor, I have lost every cent I ever had in the world, but I have not 
lost my honor. I have my manhood yet, and that is the principal thing. It is 
a richer treasure than all the wealth of the world." 

Most of the misfortune and woes of life are caused by the mistakes and 
sins of others. There is sometimes the greatest material prosperity attended by 
the most marked spiritual declension. It often happens that honor stands se- 
cure and magnificent above the wreck of earthly fortune. Our success or failure 
in the spiritual world will determine the eternal fate of our fellow men who 
trust or follow us. 



RICHEST TREASURE IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CASKET 



LEXANDER THE GREAT, desiring to find a most becoming receptacle 

for the Iliad, carefully placed it in one of the most valuable caskets of 

Darius, remarking that the most perfect specimen of human genius 

should have the most precious possible resting-place. 

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the highest expression of 

God's written law, should have a receptacle in the human soul, which is the 

most precious casket in this world. 




320 THE SPEAKING OAK 

DIED AT A WEDDING 

OvSHPH S. FARMER, of Jersey City, and Miss Margaret Mastcrson, were 
announced to be married in the St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church 
of Brooklyn. The time for the ceremony had arrived ; the church was 
crowded with people. In one of the pews, within a few feet of the altar, 
sat Mrs. Brotzman, a cousin of the groom. When the wedding march from Loh- 
engrin was played, she slipped down a little in her pew. Thinking that she was 
only faint, her father-in-law attempted to revive her by fanning her. Father 
McCarty performed the ceremony, and while the strains of the organ quickened the 
steps of the bridal party as it left the church, they ushered the spirit of Mrs. Brotz- 
man into the other world. All eyes were upon the bride and groom, and their 
attendants, and the condition of the woman was not discovered until the audience 
arose to leave the church, when it was found that she was dead. 

Death is no respecter of persons or places. It would seem that he might 
have done his work either before or after the wedding, but he preferred to wait 
for the time of the greatest brilliancy and joy to do his damage and bring sor- 
row. In the bed, at the table, or the family altar, on the street, in the shop, 
ofifice or store, in the midst of busy throngs, high hope, joy, and merriment, in 
the house of God, where hearts are joined and happiness is promised. Death 
appears as an obtruder to mock earthly vanity and to hurry mortals away. The 
woman who expired was a Christian, and was hurried a little before the other 
guests to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 



THE PHONOGRAPH CAME FROM A PRICK ON THE FINGER 



THOMAS A. EDISON tells how he happened to invent the phonograph. He 
says : " I discovered the principle by the merest accident. I was singing 
to the mouth-piece of a telephone, when the vibrations of my voice sent 
the fine steel point into my finger. That set me to thinking. If I could 
record the action of the point and send the point over the same surface afterward, 
I saw^ no reason why the thing should not talk. I tried the experiment first on a 
strip of telegraph paper and found that the point made an alphabet. I shouted the 
words ' Halloo ! Halloo !' into the mouth-piece, ran the paper back over the 
steel point, and heard a faint 'Halloo! Halloo,' in return, and I determined to 
make a machine that would work accurately, and gave my assistants instructions, 
telling them what I had discovered. They laughed at me. The phonograph 
is the result of the pricking of a finger." On a recent visit to Edison's works 
at Orange, I heard a brass band playing into one instrument, a star singing into 
another, and an elocutionist talking into another. I was there told by a special- 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 321 

ist who had spent much time experimenting upon the instrument, that the 
new improvements to the phonograph would make it about perfect as a speaking 
machine. 

The wizard was asking Nature for other secrets at the very time she touched 
him gently on the finger and told him of the phonograph. Most of his inven- 
tions were the result of a purpose reached only after months or years of work 
and disappointment, this one he confesses came to him by accident. It was 
only because he had such a broad knowledge of sound and electricity that he 
knew what the slight touch on his finger meant. A million average hands 
might have been touched by the sharp wire without result ; it was only because 
it was Edison's finger that was pricked that there came the phonograph. 

The things we intend to do are hardly half of the things we do. The inci- 
dental or accidental events of our lives set afloat influences that shall never die. 

The little things of life contain important principles, and lead to. great 
results. In the spiritual realm the simple pricking of a finger often leads to 
unveiling mysteries, and opening the halls of melody. 

Every word we speak, every act we perform, every thought we think, goes 
into a talking machine which will tell its story for or against us at the Last Day. 



GENERAL HARRISON AS A CHRISTIAlsI 



THE religious instinct of Benjamin Harrison was very strong. His obliga- 
tions to God were sacredly kept. The first prayer his mother taught him 
in the old log house, the religious instruction she gave him as she 
bathed his face with her tears of love and the eloquence of her example, 
sank into his young heart, all sensitive to the truth, and gave him a taste as well as 
a habit for sacred things. While a student in college, he made a public profession 
of Christianity and united with the Presbyterian Church. When he went to In- 
dianapolis a young man, he joined the First Presbyterian Church of that city, and 
remained a member of it till the day of his death. He was the pastor's right-hand 
man. As a trusted officer he assisted in taking the collections on the Lord's day 
and distributing the elements of the Holy Communion. His wisdom and love were 
invaluable in the management of the church. It is said that the society con- 
templated the erection of a new church edifice and that General Harrison, at 
the time of his death, was the chairman of the Building Committee. The 
General was a man of deep spiritual experience. He always found time to 
attend the week-night prayer service. He was superintendent of the Sunday 
School, and one of the ablest Bible class teachers any church ever had. When 
he was first married he established a family altar which was maintained to the 
last. When in the White House for four years there was no business, however 



2,22 THE SPEAKING OAK 

important, that would cause him to neglect his family prayers. Mr. Harrison 
was several times elected a member of the General Assembly, and was a member 
of the important committee on the Revision of the Creed. General Harrison 
never hesitated to publicly profess his faith in the principles of our Christian 
religion. He had unfaltering faith in the Bible. 

We have here one of the best minds of the nation, one of the ablest lawyers, 
one of the greatest orators in the land, one of the hardest workers in the various 
departments of human endeavor, with simple faith in the Word of God and 
plenty of time for the Master's Service. The repeated contention that the intel- 
lect of the world is turning away from the Bible and the Church does not seem 
to be sustained by the facts. 

^« ^. ^. 

ROBERT FULTON'S NEGLECTED GRAVE 



A WRITER gives the following description of the sadly neglected and 
unremembered grave of Robert Fulton : 

" When the selected group of prominent Americans voted as to which 
American inventor's name should be enrolled at the Hall of Fame, Robert 
Fulton, the man who invented the steamboat, received the largest number of votes. 
Every schoolboy has lauded Fulton's achievement, and his fame has extended 
to every part of the civilized world. Yet the mortal remains of this man, a 
Pennsylvanian by birth, rest in a grave in New York which does not even contain 
a slab bearing his name. Very few persons know that the remains of Robert 
Fulton are interred in Trinity Churchyard, in New York City — that remarkable 
burying ground which seems strangely out of place, surrounded by immense build- 
ings, in one of the busiest thoroughfares in the world. Less than a hundred years 
ago Fulton was the most talked of inventor in the land ; to-day he lies among 
the unnamed dead. In one of the vaults in Trinity Churchyard are eight cas- 
kets; one of these contains all that is mortal of Robert Fulton. On the top of 
the vault is a brownstone slab, weather-beaten and dingy, with the letters almost 
obliterated. It is only by hard work that the following inscription can be made 
out: 'The vault of Walter and Robert C. Livingston, sons of Robert Living- 
ston, of Livingston Manor.' There is nothing else — nothing to show that the 
remains of the inventor are also interred there. Few people are acquainted with 
Fulton's domestic life. At some time he married a Miss Livingston, and for 
that reason his remains were placed beside those of his wife in the Livingston 
vault when he died. Sometimes when the sexton is around, he tells visitors 
that the grave contains the remains of Fulton. But hundreds visit the church- 
yard every day without discovering the fact. The graves of Hamilton, Law- 
rence, Gallatin, and other distinguished men buried there are suitably marked. 
The sexton said that the American Society of Mechanical Engineers had started 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 3-^3 

a fund for a monument some years ago, but he never heard anything more of it." 
It makes no difference to Fuhon now what the people do with his dust ; 
whether they mark it with a stately monument, or are compelled to search for 
it with a guide. But there ought to be gratitude enough in the hearts of a 
generation which has received such untold benefit from his discovery, to fit- 
tingly mark his resting-place in marble or in bronze. Such a monument would 
be a good object lesson to the young, reminding them of the rewards of thought, 
study, industry, experiment, enterprise and illustrious achievement. 

Fulton's is not the only neglected grave of a great man ; all over the world 
there are graves of men who have rendered signal service to their fellow men, 
which are unmarked by the plainest slab, and are even hidden from view by the 
weeds and briars. The dead are not hurt — only the living — by such neglect. 
Fulton's grave is only a sample of what will happen to the rest of them, sooner 
or later. However hard the granite or durable the bronze, the monuments will 
all come down ; the frost in the ground will tilt them, the rains and the ice will event- 
ually chip and dissolve them ; the moss will eat out the names on the slabs and 
the graves will be unknown. The cities of the living only halt for appearance 
sake at the fence of the cemetery, and then they rush pell-mell over the sleeping- 
places of the dead as their highways, and appropriate them for the store, the 
shop, the office, the house. What about the dust of those who belonged to the 
earlier ages? With the exception of here and there an embalmed specimen 
for museums, they have all gone down under the flood of years. By the chem- 
istry of nature and the march of the ages, the costliest monuments of the 
greatest heroes will be pulled down and covered up by the dust which is scat- 
tered through the fingers of Time. The law of Oblivion serves a wise purpose, 
in throwing us in on the living Present for our plans and labors ; and in prompt- 
ing us to seize the hand of the Absolute in the midst of the mutable and the 
perishable. 



W. J. BRYAN'S TRIBUTE TO McKlNLEY 



AT the death of President McKinley, Mr. Bryan said : " As monuments 
reared to the memory of heroes testify to the virtues of the living as well 
as to the services of the dead, so the sorrow that has overwhelmed our 
nation, obliterating distinctions of party, race, and religion, is complimen- 
tary to the patriotism of our people. While no recent campaigns have aroused 
deeper feeling than those through which President McKinley passed, yet in no con- 
test did the minority more cheerfully acquiesce in the will of the majority as ex- 
pressed at the polls. He was the President of the people, and their dignity and 
sovereignty were attacked when he was assaulted. I rejoice that President 
McKinley's career so fully demonstrated the possibilities of American citizenship. 



324 THE SPEAKING OAK 

The young- men of the country can find inspiration and encouragement in the fact 
that he made his own way from obscurity to fame, those who are nearing the 
boundary of hfe can find consolation and example in the superb manner in which 
he fought his final battle. Domestic happiness has never been better illustrated 
than in his life, and Christian faith and trust never better exemplified than in 
his death." 

Political differences are suggested by analogy and grow out of the consti- 
tution of the human soul. Political parties pretty nearly balanced are necessary 
in a representative form of government, are necessary to the enactment and 
enforcement of the best laws. Evils, jealous and relentless, throng the path of 
our greatest blessings, and they have found their way into the avenues of 
political life. There has often been unnecessary bitterness, and wicked mis- 
representation in the campaign, and diabolical and perilous persecution and 
defamation of those whom we have called to represent us in the highest posi- 
tions of state ; and yet, underneath the strife and anger and misrepresentation 
and persecution there is the deep substratum of loyalty to our institutions and an 
acquiescence in the decision of a majority of the people. At the shot which 
killed President McKinley, the people of the country ceased to be partisans and 
became patriots. The tribute of Mr. Bryan to the political foe who had twice 
defeated him for the Presidency was as generous as it was just, and voices that 
splendid Americanism which is the measure of a healthful public conscience, 
and the prophecy of national perpetuity and happiness. 

^ v* ^ 

BISMARCK'S RELIGION 

T has been seldom in ancient or modern times that Providence has allowed 
any one man to be so potential in founding a nation as Bismarck, in the 
creation of the German Empire. Plis colossal brain, his political sagac- 
ity, his peerless diplomacy, his real genius, his irresistible will have been 
emphasized as elements of his greatness and success. He had other elements of 
character not so often noticed, but just as essential. They were his love for his 
wife and children, his devotion to his country, his simple, sincere faith in God, and 
his sense of personal responsibility for time and eternity. H his intellect was a 
mountain losing its head in the sky. if his will was a storm sweeping everything 
before it, his heart was a deep, blue sea. 

Bismarck's religion was dominant in his individual character and public hfe. 
If the chain with which he bound the German Empire together could be dis- 
covered, it would be found fastened to the throne of God. In one of the ablest 
speeches he ever made in the Reichstag, he reached the climax in " The Germans 
fear God and nothing else in the world." The old Bismarck coat-of-arms was 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 325 

a shield with a crown above it. out of which came two bufifalo horns, with the 
black eagle of Prussia to the left and the eagle of Brandenburg on the right, 
and this motto at the bottom, '* In Trinitate Robur " (" IMy strength in the Trin- 
ity"), referring to the three-leaf clover and the three oak leaves in the shield, 
and especially to the Trinity of God, 

At the Easter of 1830, on his sixteenth birthday, Bismarck was confirmed 
in the Trinity church, of Berlin, by the celebrated Sclileiermacher, and remained 
a member of the Lutheran Church to the day of his death. While in college, 
he became somewhat sceptical, to which fact he refers regretfully in a letter to 
his wife from his college town : 

" I visted Wiesbaden, the scene of my former follies. How many of those 
with whom I flirted, and drank and gambled are now under ground! What 
changes my views of life have undergone in the fourteen years since then! I 
cannot imagine how a man who thinks at all about himself, and yet refuses to 
hear anything about God, can endure life without weariness and self-abhorrence. 
I can't think how I endured it formerly ! If I had to live now, as then, without 
God, without you, without children, I don't know why I should not throw off 
this life like a filthy garment." 

Through his long life, he not only believed in a God above him, but openly 
professed the presence of God in his soul. He had implicit faith in the Scrip- 
tures, and with them he often tried to win his friends from scepticism. After 
one of the most exquisite descriptions of a swim in the Rhine by moonlight, he 
wrote : 

" I sat with Lynar on the balcony, with the Rliine beneath us, the starry 
sky about us, and my little Testament brought to us religious topics, and I tried 
for a long while to shake the tendency of his mind to the moral teaching of 
Rousseau." 

Bismarck had implicit faith in Divine Providence. He said in a critical time 
in his history, " I am ready for anything God may send." At another time he 
said, " If God will continue to give health 'to my wife and children, in thirty 
years from now it will not make any difference whether I play the part of the 
diplomatist or country squire." His wife was very much afraid of his assassina- 
tion, and he wrote her : " Trust in God, dear heart ; there is more danger to be 
apprehended for the king's life than for mine, but this also is in God's hands." 
In a gloomy period of the nation's history he wrote, " Thank God my health is 
good ; but one needs an humble faith in God not to despair about the future of 
our country. ]\Iay he grant the king good health above all." Bismarck's 
faith in the providence of God over Prussia and the German nation was a part 
of his life. He said : " Sooner or later, the God who directs our battles, will 
throw down the iron dice which will give the final decision." After a most 
graphic description of Napoleon's humiliation at Sedan and of his conference 
with him, he wrote: 



326 THE SPEAKING OAK 

" These two clays cost France 100,000 men and an Emperor. If I did not be- 
lieve in the Divine government of the world, I would not serve my king another 
hour. If I did not obey God and put my trust in him, my respect for earthly 
rulers would be but small. Title and decorations have no charm for me. Take 
my faith from me and you take my country, too." 

Bismarck had a vital faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We remember to have 
read nowhere a clearer or more powerful exposition of the relation of Christ's 
teachings to the State than in one of Bismarck's addresses. He said : 

" If the State wishes to secure its own duration, and to prove its right to 
exist, it nmst be established on a religious foundation. Christian rulers are 
princes intended to use the sceptre God has lent them to carry out his will on 
earth. I recognize as God's will what is revealed to us in the Holy Gospels, 
and I believe that the realization of Christian doctrine is the object of the State. 
Gentlemen, do not let us give the people a narrow view of Christianity by 
showing them that it is not indispensable to their law-givers ; let us not take 
from them the belief that Christianity is the source from which our legislation 
is drawn, and that the State aims at the realization of Christianity." 

A man with such a faith in the life of Christ in the foundation and progress 
of his nation, deserved to build one of the greatest empires, and had a right to 
the fame his services secured. 

A meddlesome scribbler wrote to Bismarck, charging upon him a want of 
spirituality. In his answer the Chancellor defines his religion, expressing his 
faith in Providence, in prayer, in the atonement, and breathing a spirit of hu- 
mility becoming so great a man. 

" There are numbers of Christians far beyond me on the road to salvation 
with whom, from my public position, I am compelled to live in conflict. Would 
to God I had no other sins on my soul but those which are known to the world, 
and for which I can only hope to be forgiven by faith in Christ's blood. It is 
often so difficult to attain that clearness of conviction which is the foundation 
of trust in God. If I stake my life in a cause I do it in that faith which has been 
rooted in me by long and hard struggles and by sincere and humble prayer to 
God. I hope in the dangers and difficulties of my calling to be enabled, by 
God's grace, to hold fast that staff of humble faith by which I find my way." 

His faith in a future life and one of joy to those who belong to Christ was 
a part of his very being. In a letter to his wife he said: 

" We must not cling to the world or make ourselves too much at home in 
it. If I believed this to be the end of it all, it would not be worth the dressing 
and undressing." 

We do not pretend that Bismarck was free from faults, or from sins ; that 
in his public administration he always adhered to the highest standards of equity. 
No one was more conscious of those mistakes or sins than he, and he made 
free confession of them to his God. We do claim that there was a deep religious 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 327 

undercurrent v/hich made his character largely what it was, and brought him 
to the destiny which he achieved. 

Emperor William I., Bismarck's master, was a man of the same sterling 
faith in God and a future life. 

The brains of the world are not going from but coming to the Cross of 
Jesus Christ. 

^• ^« v* 

ABE LINCOLN AND THE LOST OX 



As I approached the Lincoln farm in Spencer County, Indiana, where Abe 
spent most of his time between six and twenty-one years of age, I said to 
a lawyer sitting near, whom I knew : " Is there any one on this train who 
lives in this neighborhood? I should like to get some absolutely new 
stories of Lincoln." He looked around and said : *' There is a man whose father 
was the nearest neighbor and dearest friend Lincoln had in this county." He took 
me over and introduced me to him. Sitting in the seat beside him, I said : " Tell 
me something your father has told you about Lincoln that the newspaper re- 
porters have not found, if such a thing is possible." He said: "When Abe 
moved with his father from this neighborhood to Decatur, Illinois, they put all 
they had in the world in a wagon and hitched two oxen to it. They had gotten 
a day's journey from home and, as was the custom in those days, turned the 
oxen out to graze for the night. One of the oxen broke away and came back 
home. Father saw him coming- along the road and, recognizing him, turned 
him in his lot. The next day Abe came back, looking for the ox. He said to 
father, ' Seen anything of our ox? ' ' Yes,' replied father. ' Where is he? ' asked 
the boy. ' In my lot,' said father. ' I have come for him,' said Abe. ' How are 
you going to take him ? ' asked father. * You have no rope, no halter, no saddle 
nor bridle.' ' I will show you,' answered Abe. ' When I yell " Open," you open 
the gate.' He went into the lot with a switch, ran the animal around a 
little while to master him and yelled ' Open.' Father opened the gate, and the 
ox made a break for it. Abe ran swiftly after him and, jumping high in the 
air, he alighted astride of the ox and, holding his heels in the flanks of the steer, 
he drove him on the run back to the wagon. When he wanted to go to the 
right he would take his old slouch hat and with it hit the beast on the left side 
of the head ; if he desired to turn to the left, he would hit him on the right side 
of the head." 

I thanked the man kindly for relating this and other incidents, and said 
to him : " The will power with which Abe, the barefooted young farmer, rode 
that ox without halter or saddle or bridle, was the same power with which he 
ruled the nation and abolished slavery." As I found my friend in the car 
seat religiously inclined, I continued : " There was but one power in the 



328 THE SPEAKING OAK 

universe to which Lincohi's imperial will bowed, and that was the will of the 
Absolute. The human will has so much to do with earthly success and spiritual 
victory. Out of the heart are the issues of life, but the will has so much to do 
in determining- those issues, either in leading one from sin to holiness or in 
fighting- successfully the battles of the Cross. The will determines what we are 
to be, creates the deserts or gardens, the dungeons or palaces of the great 
future. There can be no certainty of aim and no surety of destiny unless the 
human will be lost in the will of God." The brakeman called out the station 
" Lincoln," and mv friend left the train. 



THE LITTLE FLOWER THAT SAVED THE MAN'S LIFE 



UNGO PARK, wearied with a long journey, and having lost the path in 
the desert, laid down to die. Gaining a little strength and casting his eye 
about him, he discovered a forget-me-not, the emblem of his country. 
Patriotic impulses inspired his heart and quickened his energy. He 
arose, determined that he would find the path that had been lost ; he did so, and his 
life was saved. 

Persons who are weary and fainting in the journey of life, and have lost 
their way in the desert of sin, often see the flowers of love in human hearts and 
lives which are emblems of the heavenly country beyond, and, inspired by them, 
they arise with new courage, and find the path, and are saved. There is an 
unspeakable eloquence in the life of true Christians, which wins people to God 
and to heaven. 



THE LINEMAN WHO NEGLECTED TO USE HIS GLOVES 



A CASE of fatal negligence occurred in the service of an electric lighting com- 
pany in New York. The company employs men during the day-time to 
test their wires, especially in the vicinity of any lamps which are reported 
to have been burning dimly or intermittently during the preceding night. 
As it is an extremely dangerous occupation, the men chosen for it are the most 
experienced employees, who know how to avoid danger. One of these, with his 
helper, was sent out to the west side of the city, where the wires were known 
to be faulty. He worked for an hour or more making his tests and repairing 
where it could be done with the tools he had with him. He was near the home 
of a friend at that time, and he looked in for a few minutes to chat with him. 
He soon came out again and resumed his work ; but he had removed his rubber 
gloves when he went to his friend's house and he did not put them on again 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 329 

when he ascended the next pole. In a few minutes his helper heard a heavy 
thud, and looking around saw the lineman prostrate on the ground. He went 
to his assistance, but the man was dead. A black streak on his hands showed 
where the fatal current had entered his body. In his pocket were the rubber 
gloves that would have protected him. 

How many there are, who go into spiritual danger without taking any 
precaution. They have the means of protection just at hand in an open Bible, 
a bleeding Saviour, and a present Holy Spirit, and yet they will not look at the 
good book, nor reach out the hand of faith and touch the Cross, nor open the 
doorway of their hearts to the Divine Spirit. By rashness or by neglect, they 
leave themselves unprotected against the fatal current which lurks in the live 
wire. 



JACKSON DECLINES AN INVITATION TO DINNER 



ON one occasion having an appointment to lecture at Frederick, Maryland, 
I registered at the hotel and went to my room. In less than an hour the 
bellboy brought me a card with a name on it unfamiliar to me. Going 
down into the office, I found a well-built, intelligent-looking, kind-spir- 
ited, middle-aged man, who said : '* My name, sir, is Gambrill ; if you are the per- 
son I think you are, you are my cousin. I have come to invite you to stay at my 
house while you are in the city. No relative of mine shall stop at a hotel while in 
this town. 

Being the man he thought I was, I went with him, where I was entertained 
in good old-fashioned Southern style, with good eating, and warm-heartedness, 
and intelligent companionship enough for a king. After the lecture, as we were 
seated by the open fireplace chatting away, I remarked that I had been to the 
cemetery in the afternoon to see the grave of Barbara Frietchie, and as I unfolded 
a piece of paper containing some dried grass that I had pulled from the grave, 
my cousin smiled, I thought from the way he looked, at my credulity. 

I continued, '' How about that story upon which Whittier based his poem. 
It is historically correct, is it not ? " He replied, '" There was such a woman as 
Barbara Frietchie who lived in a plain house on a corner not far from here. She 
was a good old soul. Her sympathies were with the North. But the picture 
of her putting her white head out of the window and waving a little Union flag 
as the Confederate soldiers marched by, and of Stonewall Jackson commanding 
his soldiers to let her alone, was the creature of Whittier's imaginjition." I 
inquired of my cousin if he knew Stonewall Jackson. The response came quickly, 
" Yes, very well." I asked him if he could remember any story about him 
which had never been printed. He said : " Yes, there is an incident which came 
under my own observation which you may be pleased to hear. When the Con- 



330 THE SPEAKING OAK 

federate forces were encamped near the town, T concluded it would be the kind 
and proper thing to have Stonewall Jackson come in and take dinner with me. 
I thouglit Sunday would be the best day. I had a splendid breed of bronze 
turkeys on my farm, and the finest one I had killed on Saturday for the dinner 
next day. A little before noon on the Sabbath, I drove in my carriage out to 
camp, and was passed through the guards to General Jackson. I found him on 
a rude stool seated before a plank which served as a table, with a cup of coflfee 
in one hand, and a chunk of corn bread in the other, and an open Bible before him. 
I said, ' General, 1 have come to take you home to dine with me to-day. I will 
not keep you long. The rest and recreation will do you good ; beside, I notice 
you have not a great variety of food on your table.' " 

" The general said : ' It was a beautiful thing for you to think of me, and to 
come and ask me to partake of your hospitality, but I shall have to decline your 
invitation. In the first place, it is my custom to take the same kind of fare 
exactly that my soldiers have, and in the second place, I employ the meal-time 
when I can as a season for reading the Bible, meditation and prayer. On this, 
the Lord's Day, T have peculiar rest and enjoyment in communing with my 
Heavenly Father.' 

" I said to him, ' General, while I thought the two or three hours visit 
would be good for you, I was not unselfish in inviting you, for I prize your 
friendship and anticipated great happiness in your company. But your demo- 
cratic spirit, your love for your men, your faith in God make me respect and 
love you more than ever before.' " I told my cousin that of all the stories 
I had heard of Jackson, none was more beautiful than the one he had related, 
and that the great Confederate General, by his singular military genius, his high 
and noble character, his splendid devotion to his men and his faith in God, had 
commanded the respect and affection of the people of the North as well as the 
South. 

Real greatness is in plain living and high thinking. Great generals share 
the hardships of the camp with their men. Everything that lives feeds, the 
body on bread, the mind on truth, the heart on the Bible and on God. 

v* >» v» 

THE VISION OF MIRZA 



MIRZA thus speaks of the strange vision, the Genius revealed to him in the 
valley of Bagdad : " The Genius then led me to the highest pinnacle of the 
rock, placing me on the top of it — ' Cast thy eyes eastward,' said he, 
' and tell me what thou seest.' * I see,' said I, ' a huge valley and a pro- 
digious tide of water rolling through it.' * The valley that thou seest,' said he, * is 
the Vale of Misery. The tide of water that thou seest is part of the great tide of 




"1 HAVE TO DECLINE YOUK INVITATION"" 



(331) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 333 

Eternity.' * What is the reason,' said I, ' that the tide I see rises out of a thick mist 
at one end, and again loses itself in a thick mist at the other?' ' What thou seest/ 
said he, ' is that portion of Eternity which is called Time, measured out by the 
sun, and reaching from the beginning of the world to its consumption.' * Ex- 
amine now,' said he, * this sea that is bounded with darkness at both ends, and 
tell me what thou discoverest in it.' 'I see a bridge,' said I, ' standing in the 
midst of the tide.' ' The bridge thou seest,' said he, ' is human life ; consider it 
attentively.' Upon a more leisurely survey of it I found that it consisted of 
three score and ten entire arches, with several Broken arches which, added to 
those that were entire, made up the number about a hundred. As I counted the 
arches, the Genius told me that this bridge consisted at first of a thousand arches ; 
but that a great flood swept away the rest and left the bridge in the ruinous 
condition I now beheld it. ' But tell me farther,' said he, ' what thou discoverest 
on it.' * I see multitudes of people passing over it,' said I, * and a black cloud 
hanging on each end of it.' As I looked more attentively I saw several of the 
passengers dropping through the bridge, into the great tide that flowed under- 
neath it ; and upon further examination, perceived there were innumerable trap- 
doors, that lay concealed in the bridge, which the pasengers no sooner trod 
upon but they fell through them into the tide, and immediately disappeared. 
These hidden pitfalls were set very thickly at the entrance of the bridge, so that 
throngs of people no sooner broke through the cloud but many of them fell 
into them. They grew thinner toward the middle, but multiplied and lay closer 
toward the end of the arches that were entire. 

" There were, indeed, some persons, but their number was very small, that 
continued a kind of hobbling march on the broken arches, but fell through, 
one after another, being quite tired and spent with so long a walk. 

" I passed some time in the contemplation of this wonderful structure, and 
the great variety of objects which it presented ; my heart was filled with a deep 
melancholy, to see several dropping unexpectedly in the midst of mirth and 
jollity, and catching at everything that stood by them to save themselves. Some 
were looking up toward heaven in a thoughtful posture, and in the midst of a 
speculation, stumbled and fell out of sight. Multitudes were verv busy in pur- 
suit of bubbles that glittered in their eyes and danced before them ; but often 
when they thought themselves within the reach of them their footing failed, 
and down they sank. 

" The Genius seeing me indulge myself on this melancholy prospect, told 
me I had dwelt long enough upon it. ' Take thine eyes off the bridge,' said he, 
' tell me if thou yet seest anything thou dost not comprehend.' Upon lookino- 
up, 'What mean,' said I, ' those great flights of birds that were perpetually hov- 
ering about the bridge and settling upon it from time to time ? I see vultures, 
harpies, ravens, cormorants, and among many other feathered creatures, several 
little winged boys, that perched in great numbers upon the middle arches.' 



334 THE SPEAKING OAK 

' These,' said the Genius, ' are Envy, Avarice, Suspicion, Despair, Love, with the 
like cares and passions that infest human Hfe.' 

" I here fetched a deep sigh, ' Alas/ said I, ' man was made in vain ! How 
is he given away to misery and mortality ! Tortured in life, swallowed up in 
death !' The Genius, being- moved with compassion toward me, bid me quit so 
uncomfortable a prospect. ' Look no more,' said he, ' on man in the first stage 
of his existence, in his setting out for eternity ; but cast thine eyes on that thick 
mist which bears the several generations of mortals that fall into it.' I directed 
my sight as I was ordered, and (whether or no the good Genius strengthened 
it with any supernatural force, or dissipated part of the mist that was before too 
thick for the eye to penetrate) I saw the valley opening at the further end, and 
spreading forth into an immense ocean, that had a huge rock of adamant running 
through the midst of it, and dividing it into two equal parts. The clouds still 
rested on one-half of it, insomuch that I could discover nothing in it ; but the 
other appeared to me a vast ocean pointed with innumerable islands, that were 
covered with fruits and flowers, and interwoven with a thousand little shining 
seas that ran among them. I could see persons dressed in glorious habits with 
garlands upon their heads, passing among the trees, lying down by the side 
of fountains, or resting on beds of flowers, and could hear a confused harmony 
of singing birds, falling waters, human voices, and musical instruments ; gladness 
grew in me upon the discovery of so delightful a scene, I wished for the wings 
of an eagle that I might fly away to those happy scenes ; but the Genius told me 
there was no passage to them except through the gates of Death that I saw 
opening every minute upon the bridge. * The islands,' said he, ' that lie so 
fresh and green before thee, and with which the whole face of the ocean appears 
spotted as far as thou canst see, are more in number than the sands on the 
seashore ; there are myriads of islands behind those which thou here discoverest, 
reaching further than thine eye or even thine imagination can extend itself. 
These are the mansions of good men after death, who, according to the degrees 
and kinds of virtue in which they excelled, are distributed among these several 
islands; which abound with pleasures of different kinds and degrees, suitable 
to the relishes and perfections of those who are settled in them. Every island 
is a paradise accommodated to its respective inhabitants. Are not these, O 
Mirza, habitations worth contending for? Does Hfe appear miserable, that 
gives the opportunities of earning such a reward? Is death to be feared, 
that will convey thee to so happy an existence? Think not man was made in 
vain, who has such an eternity reserved for him.' I gazed with inexpressible 
pleasure on these happy islands. At length, said I, ' Show me, now I beseech 
thee, the secrets that lie hid under those dark clouds, which cover the ocean 
on the other side of the rock adamant.' The Genius, making me no answer, I 
turned about to address myself to him a second time ; but I found that he had 
left me. I then turned again to the vision which T had been so long contem- 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 335 

plating; but instead of the rolling' tide, the arched bridge, the happy islands, there 
was only the long, hollow valley of Bagdad, with oxen, sheep, and camels grazing 
upon the sides of it." 

Scarcely anywhere in literature do we find a more graphic description of 
the mystery of time ; the uncertainty of life ; the agonies which, like vultures, feed 
upon the human heart, and the beauties of the realm the good possess beyond 
the gates of Death, than in Addison's Bridge of Mirza. 



MISS HELEN GOULD ON ^'THE STEWARDSHIP 
OF WEALTH" 



tTf 



^ 



I 



N all that has to do with benevolence, philanthropy and human kindness, 
Miss Helen Miller Gould has for a number of years borne an active and 
prominent part. We copy a letter from Miss Gould which will interest 
everyone who has given even a passing thought to the subject of the 
responsibilities that attach to the possession of great riches. Is wealth a steward- 
ship, and are we responsible for the use we make of it ? In her letter, Miss Gould 
clearly takes this view. She discusses the various methods in which wealth may 
be made a blessing ; how it may be applied to the highest advantage and to the 
noblest purposes. 

" Lyndhurst, Irvington-on-the-Hudson. 
" Mr. Louis Klopsch : 

" Dear Sir — Your letter of recent date is at hand, asking my opinion on 
the subject, ' How to Make the ]\Iost of Wealth.' It is a topic on which I am 
not well-qualified to speak, and I would suggest that you make the same in- 
quiry of some of our leading clergymen, whose views on the subject would be a 
great inspiration to us all. 

" The Christian idea that wealth is a stewardship, or trust, and not to be used 
for one's personal pleasure alone, but for the welfare of others, certainly seems 
the noblest; and those who have more money or broader culture owe a debt 
to those vv'ith fewer opportunities. And there are so many ways one can help ! 

'* Children, the sick and the aged especially, have claims on our attention, 
and the forms of work for them are numerous; from kindergartens, day-nurs- 
eries and industrial schools, to ' homes ' and hospitals. Our institutions for 
higher education require gifts in order to do their best work, for the tuition fees 
do not cover the expense of the advantages offered ; and certainly such societies 
as those in our churches, and the Young Woman's Christian Association and 
the Young Men's Christian Association, deserve our hearty co-operation. The 
earnest workers who so nobly and lovingly give their lives to promote the wel- 
fare of others, give far more than though they had simply made gifts of money, 



336 THE SPEAKING OAK 

so those who cannot afford to give largely need not feel discouraged on that 
account. After all, sympathy and good-will may be a greater force than wealth, 
and we can all extend to others a kindly feeling and courteous consideration, 
that will make life sweeter and better. 

" Sometimes it seems to me we do not sufificiently realize the good that is 
done by money that is used in the different industries in giving employment to 
great numbers of people under the direction of clever men and women; and 
surely it takes more ability, perseverance and time to successfully manage such 
an enterprise than to merely make gifts. 

'■ You will, I am sure, be sorry you have made the inquiry of me, since I have 
given you so little information, but I think you can easily obtain opinions that 
v/ill probably be far more helpful than mine." 

" Believe me, very truly, 

" Hklkn Miller Gould." 

The teaching of the world has been that poverty has to minister to wealth, 
ignorance to intelligence, rudeness to culture, weakness to strength. That if a 
man have power it is that he may oppress the weak; if he have education it is that 
he may be lifted above the heads of the unlettered ; if he have wealth it is that 
the poor may serve him. Christ taught plainly that power is to be employed in 
protecting and helping the weak, that wealth is under obligation to poverty, 
that education owes a debt to ignorance, and that holiness is for the purification 
of moral evil. 

Alany of our rich, educated, cultivated people have come to recognize 
this stewardship of which Miss Gould speaks, and are trying their very best to 
make this money-getting age the greatest money-giving age in the history of the 
world. They are pouring out their fortunes and lives freely into every form of 
benevolence, like faithful servants of their Divine blaster. 



SOWING THE DRAGON'S TEETH 

ASON was required by ^etes, the king, not only to tame the brazen bulls, 
but with them to plow the grove of Mars, and sow in the mellov*^ ground, 
the same dragon's teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of warriors. 
When Medea, the king's daughter, who had promised to show him how to 
tame the fiery animals, met him in the moonlight on the palace steps at midnight, 
she carried a basket on her arm, with the dragon's teeth which he needed for seed. 
When the brazen bulls rushed at him with their fire, he caught one by the horn, 
and the other by the tail, and when they felt his magical influence, they sub- 
sided, submitted to the yoke, and drew the plow, with which he prepared the 
field for the seed. He sowed the dragon's teeth ; the same night while the moon 
was in the heavens, the seed began to sprout. First there appeared the heads 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 337 

of spears, then brass helmets, then the bearded faces of soldiers, and then the 
breastplates, and the shield upon the arm, and out from the earth, a man ready 
for battle, sprang from every dragon's tooth. They were full of hate, and crazy 
to find someone to slay. Catching sight of the prince, they rushed at him and 
would have killed him, but the princess, who had accompanied him to the field, 
told him to throw a stone at them, which he did. The stone struck one man's 
helmet, glanced to the shield of another, and struck a third between the eyes. 
Each of those who had been hit, supposing that his companions had done the 
deed, fell upon his neighbor, and a general fight ensued, in which all of the 
soldiers but one were killed, and he had been so badly hacked to pieces that he 
had only time to say " Victory," and then die. 

Vice has in it the element of self-destruction. The wrathful and the vicious 
take delight in preying upon one another ; in betraying, stealing from, and mur- 
dering each other. 

There are many wars that are justifiable and beneficial ; there are many 
others in which the soldiers fall upon and kill each other, not knowing the 
reason why. 

*^ ^« ^ 

TWO PER CENT OF GENIUS; NINETY-EIGHT OF 

HARD WORK 



MR. EDISON was once asked to give a definition of genius, and answered, 
" Two per cent is genius and ninety-eight per cent is hard work." When 
some one remarked to him that genius was inspiration, he said, " The in- 
spiration of genius is perspiration." The answer was not a correct defi- 
nition of genius, for he evidently placed too low an estimate upon the value of 
native endowment, and yet it emphasized his estimate of the necessity of application 
for success in any life-work. He had more than two per cent of genius himself, 
but is was unquestionably his enormous amount of labor which made his genius 
fruitful. On being asked his age, he said he was over a hundred ; that, while there 
were supposed to be but eight working hours each day, he had worked nineteen 
hours out of the twenty-four, for twenty-five years in succession. He has an 
idea that sleep is largely a matter of habit, and that people could get along with 
one-half the number of hours the average person devotes to sleep. In this 
opmion he is mistaken. One reason why he has this idea is that the tides of 
life in him run very strong, some of his ancestors, not very far remote, having 
lived to be over a hundred years of age. There is perhaps, no public man of 
our time who has been so intense and constant a toiler as Mr. Edison has been. 
Hereditary traits have much to do in determining the height to which a 
person can arise in this world. Wings are important things, as well as ladders 
in getting above the herd, but it takes an immense amount of energy to work the 



338 THE SPEAKING OAK 

wings. Many of the gaps that indicate life's inequalities can be closed up b)' 
hard work. Men of ordinary ability, by working hard enough on the ladders 
have climbed to the top of very tall spires. 

There is no place where hard work tells to greater advantage than in the 
divine life, where every person is supposed to have a reasonable amount of ability 
and grace for working purposes and where happiness and usefulness depend so 
much upon spiritual industry . 



CHINA MAKES EXPIATION FOR THE DEaTH OF BARON 

VON KETTELER 



MISSION of expiation was sent by the Emperor of China to the Emperor 
of Germany during the summer of 1901, to make atonement for the 
murder of Baron Von Ketteler, in Pekin, during the Boxer uprising. 
Prince Chun, the brother of the Emperor, was the chief envoy. Accom- 
panied by the new Chinese minister, Kien-Chang and General Von Ploepfner, he 
rode in an imperial carriage to the palace. Following were four other carriages 
containing the Chinese dignitaries of the envoy's suite. The Prince, on going to 
the audience, passed through Jasper gallery, between lines of guards. In the mean- 
while a guard of honor had been drawn up outside the palace, and presented arms, 
with the band playing. The Envoy passed down the lines of troops, saluting m 
Chinese fashion, with folded hands. The Prince was led to the throne-room, 
and the six Chinese dignitaries of the highest rank, who were halted in the 
ante-room, remained motionless and speechless, awaiting Prince Chun's return 
with evident anxiety. 

Assembled in the throne-room were the royal princes, Baron Von Richthofen, 
the principal ministers and generals and the court dignitaries. Prince Chun read 
the following letter, written in yellow ink : 

" The Great Emperor of the Chinese Empire to His Majesty the Great German 
Emperor, Greeting: 
" Ever since the empires have been mutually represented by permanent lega- 
tions, we have stood uninterrupted in friendly relationship with one another, 
especially since the visit of Prince Henry, whom I had the privilege of receiving 
frequently and treating with on intimate terms. Unfortunately, in the fifth 
month of last year, the Boxers rebelliously penetrated into Pekin, and the 
soldiers joined them. The result was the murder of your Majesty's minister, 
Baron Von Ketteler, a man who, as long as he occupied his post at Pekin, paid 
careful attention to the interests of your countries, and to whom we are bound 
to pay our especial acknowledgments. We regret most deeply that Baron von 
Ketteler met so terrible an end among us. The fact that we were not in a posi- 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 339 

tion to take due protective measures was painful to our sense of responsibiIit3\ 
It was this feeling of responsibility which prompted us to erect a monument 
on the spot, as a sign that the crime should not remain unexpiated. Further, 
we have sent to Germany, with this letter, the Imperial Prince Chun Tsai Fong, 
heading a special mission. Prince Shun, our own brother, will assure your 
Majesty how deeply the events of the last year have grieved us, and how deeply 
feelings of penitence and shame still animate us. Your Majesty sent your troops 
from a far distance, put down the Boxers' rebellion and restored peace, for 
the welfare of our nation. We have therefore commanded Prince Chun to ex- 
press personally to your Majesty our thanks for your efforts in promoting peace. 
We cherish the hope that your Majesty's indignation will be replaced by the old 
friendship. That the relations between our empires will be even more extensive 
and of a more mtimate and beneficent character than hitherto, is our firm assur- 
ance." 

Prince Chun, in delivering the letter, said : 

" I am in a position to assure your Majesty that the Emperor, my most 
gracious master, stood aloof from these complications which brought misfortune 
upon China and loss and care upon Germany. Nevertheless, in accordance with 
the customs of thousands of years, the Emperor of China has taken the blame 
on his own sacred person. I have, therefore, the task of expressing to your 
Majesty the most cordial feelings of the Emperor, my illustrious master, toward 
your Imperial Majesty and the whole Imperial family. I hope the passing cloud 
will only intensify the succeeding sunshine and mutual friendship of the two 
great empires when they understand the value of each other better." 

Emperor William in reply, said: 

" It is no joyous or festive occasion, nor the fulfilment of a simple act of 
courtesy which brings your Imperial Highness to me, but a deeply melancholy 
and very serious event. My minister to the court of the Emperor of China 
has been slain in the capital of China by the murderous weapon of an imperial 
Chinese soldier, acting under superior command — an unheard of crime, which 
is branded as infamous by international law and by the usages of all nations. 
From the mouth of your Imperial Highness I have just received an expression 
of the deep regret of the Emperor of China. I readily believe your imperial 
brother personally stood aloof from this crime and the subsequent acts of vio- 
lence against the inviolable legations and peaceful foreigners. All the greater 
the guilt resting on his advisers and government. The latter must not delude 
themselves with the belief that they are able to obtain atonement and pardon 
for their guilt by the expiatory mission alone. They will be judged by their 
future conduct, in accordance with the laws of nations. If the Emperor of China 
conducts the government of his great empire henceforth strictly in the spirit of 
these prescriptions, then will his hopes be fulfilled and the results of the com- 
plications of the last year will be overcome, and between Germany and China, 



340 THE SPEAKING OAK 

as formerly, peaceful and friendly relations will again prevail. In the sincere 
wish that this may be so, I bid your Imperial Highness welcome." 

The Kaiser received him seated. The buttons and epaulettes of his Maj- 
esty's white uniform were covered with crape. 

Emperor William remained seated during the reading of the Chinese ad- 
dress. Afterv/ard, however, he relaxed his stern demeanor and welcomed the 
envoy courteously, and subsequently, accompanied by his adjutant, he called 
upon Prince Chun at the Orangery. Later in the evening the Emperor, Prince 
Chun and a dozen members of the mission took tea on an island in the Havel. 

The Emperor had evidently arranged the entire ceremony with a view of 
impressing Prince Chun with the feeling that the ceremony meant expiation for 
a foul crime, and that only through expiation had Prince Chun acquired the 
right to be treated with princely honors. Not until after the ceremony did the 
atmosphere change. Then, the troops outside having saluted, and the band 
having played, hussars escorted Prince Chun back to the Orangery. 

It is one of the deepest instincts of the human soul that sin ought to be 
punished, that it will be punished. Since the earliest times men have offered 
sacrifice to the gods, to atone for sin; during patriarchal times these sacri- 
fices were offered to Jehovah. By divine appointment during the mosaic dis- 
pensation, these offerings became an important part of the divine service. They 
typified the Spotless " Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world." 

The mission of expiation was only a faint type of the atonement which 
Christ made for the sins of the world. Had the German Emperor taken the 
Crown Prince and offered him as a sacrifice by an ignominious death, to bring 
about harmony between the Chinese and German Empires, there would have 
been more nearly a picture of the harmony brought about between the human 
heart and the Divine Government bv the death of Christ on the Cross. 



FRANKLIN'S SWIMMING SCHOOL 



CARLYLE told the following story to Milburn. the blind preacher, while the 
latter was sitting in Carlyle's garden at Chelsea, London, in i860. 

" When Benjamin Franklin was toiling as a journeyman printer in 
London, prior to the Revolution, he was accustomed to stroll of an after- 
noon along the banks of Father Thames, and this end of Cheyne Row was usually 
his goal. One day as he walked discoursing with a friend, he declared himself 
able to swim from here to London Bridge, distant five miles. His friend 
offered a wager that it was impossible; and he, upon the instant stripping, 
plunged boldly in, and started for his mark, while his friend, bearing the clothes, 
strode down the bank ; and a great multitude of spectators, growing ever 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 341 

greater as he proceeded, followed to see the feat. He, with brave stroke and 
lusty sinew buffeting the tide, gained the bridge. Whereupon, amidst just ac- 
clamations, the people suggested that he should start a swimming school. But 
God had other work for him to do ; for in later years he was to teach the people 
of your continent how, by Frugality and Labor and Patience and Courage, any 
man might buffet the waves of misfortune, and swim straight on to prosperity and 
success. And that was the swimming school which he was to establish." 



CHARACTER AND CREDIT 



DR. O. S. MARDEN, who insists so much on truth, virtue and honor for 
their own sake, has recently called attention to the value of Character as a 
basis of business credit, in the following words : 

" Many young men, beginning a business career for themselves, 
make the mistake of supposing that financial credit is based wholly upon property 
or capital. They do not understand that character and reliability, combined with 
aptitude for one's business, and a disposition to work hard, are far more import- 
ant assets to have than millions of dollars. The young fellow who begins by 
sweeping out the store, and who finally becomes a clerk, manager, or superintend- 
ent by his energy and reliability of character, does not usually find it difificult 
to secure credit to start in business for himself. On the other hand, jobbing 
houses are not inclined to advance credit to the man who, though he may have 
inherited a fortune, has shown no capacity for business, and is of doubtful 
character. 

" The young men who start for themselves, on a small scale, are more ener- 
getic, work harder, are more alert, are quicker to appreciate the chances of the 
market, and are generally more polite and willing than those possessed of large 
capital. 

" The credit men in jobbing houses are very quick, as a rule, to see the success 
qualities in prospective buyers, and seldom make a mistake in their estimate of 
what credit it is safe to extend." 

While many good people fail, and bad people succeed in business there is 
certainly a tendency in virtue to a temporal reward. There is a tendency to health 
in religion. The bad nations, whose blood has been corrupted, have had about 
every pestilence that has swept away the millions of the race. 

The Christian nations own the wealth of the world. Heathenism is bankrupt. 
The intelligent, virtuous characters dominate the race to-day, control its laws, 
literature and commerce. Goodness for a reward is not a high motive, but it is 
not to be wholly ignored. Godliness is profitable, having the promise of both 
worlds. 



342 THE SPEAKING OAK 

THE YOUNG BOER WHO ESCAPED FROM A BRITISH 

PRISON 



GOING to New York on the steamer Chrystenah one morning, I overheard 
a gentleman say that there was a relative of General DeWet, the Boer 
leader, visiting at Hastings-on-the-Hudson. A day or so after I went 
to the village mentioned and asked the postmaster if he knew any thing 
about such a visitor. He directed me to the manse of the Dutch Reformed Church, 
where I found Adolph DeWet, the guest of Mr. Richard Lloyd-Jones. 

Mr. DeWet is a splendid specimen of physical and intellectual manhood. He 
is twenty-six years old, is over six feet high and well proportioned. He is a 
graduate of a South African College, and has taken post graduate work at Cam- 
bridge. He speaks fluently a half dozen languages. He is brilliant in mind, 
magnetic in spirit, and employs the English language perfectly. He does not look 
at all like a Boer, at any rate, like the long-bearded, plainly-dressed farmers of that 
race, but a few words of conversation only, convinced me that he is a Boer to 
the bone. 

I said to the young man : " Is it true that you are related to General DeWet, 
the great Boer leader?" He answered quickly and with a strong voice, "Yes, I 
am proud to say I am. His father and my father are brothers. Their father was 
killed at Majuba Hill and his body now sleeps there. All the DeWets of that 
day fought on that hill, and from the planting of that kind of seed you would 
expect us to be a family of patriots and fighters, and so we are. We claimed the 
right to sow and reap in the land of our nativity, and to be free from British 
politics, and were willing to fight, and, if need be, die for our principles." 

I continued: "What are you doing here?" He replied, "I am an escaped 
prisoner. I was badly wounded and captured, was sent to St. Helena, but there 
the prisoners were so numerous that I was sent, with three thousand others, to the 
Bermudas. One cool evening last October I determined to attempt an escape. I 
saw a steamer in the harbor, and knowing she was soon to sail for New York, 
went down naked into the water under the pretense of taking a bath, dove under 
the barbed wire fence guard and struck out for liberty. The tide was against me, 
and I had a desperate fight for life. I had faced all kinds of British soldiers 
and guns, and had never experienced the sensation of fear, but during the last 
half of my battle with the sea I was badly scared. 

"Nearly dead, I, at last, dragged myself up on the ship's rudder, and rested a 
little time till I could climb the anchor chain. However, the hole through which 
it passed was too small to let me through, and I had to slip down into the water 
again. I again got my feet rested on the rudder, and cried, 'A man overboard.' 
Then I was pulled up by a rope. I dashed into the engine room and crouched, 
nearly dead, before the fire. An officer of the ship confronted me, and I frankly 
told him who I was, and he hid me in a big drawer and covered me up with rags. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 343 

Presently he ran to me and said : ' British officers are after you ; get out of this 
quick ; get down into the bunkers.' He put three big lumps of coal around my 
head so I could breathe, and then covered me up. I could hear the officers saying, 
' Maybe he is in the coal.' They stuck their swords down into the mass, incon- 
veniently near my body, but they missed me, and I soon felt by the motion of the 
ship that we were out to sea. When the captain of the ship discovered me he 
came near taking me back to land, but those on board persuaded him to let me 
stay. They did not treat me like a heroic officer of a heroic army, but made me 
shovel coal like a hottentot all the w^ay, which, under the circumstances, I Avas glad 
to do. I had only a few cents in my pocket when I landed in New York. I slept 
on a park bench the first night, to save the price of lodging for food. I washed 
dishes in a cheap restaurant in the Bowery till I got money enough to get a job 
working on the track of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Then I got back into my 
profession as an electrical engineer, and now I am on my way to Utah as a mining 
expert. I hope to make my home for some time to come in South America." 

I said to the young man : " I need not ask whether you did any hard fight- 
ing. That is taken for granted; I have not heard of any Boers who did not 
fight desperately." He answered, "Not so many of us were killed as the enemy 
claimed, but nearly every one of us who was not killed was w^ounded. We were 
simple children of nature, with tough bodies that could hold a deal of lead without 
letting dowm." 

"Were you wounded?" I inquired. 

He smiled as he said, "I should think so. Five times seriously. I was lying 
behind a rock picking off English soldiers when a bullet of the enemy shattered the 
rock and threw the pieces into my face, nearly blinding me, and making this mark 
on my cheek. If you do not object, I v/ill remove my stocking and show you how 
I have been cut up. You see the scar on this side and the one on the other side of 
my leg ; the ball went through the bone as well as the flesh. The strange thing is 
that I did not know that I was wounded. The same ball that passed through my 
leg entered my horse, breaking his back and lodging in the saddle. I seized the 
stirrup-leather of my chum, and ran along, sheltered by his horse, to a place of 
safety before I knew I was hurt. They left me at a farmhouse, and in a month I 
was ready for the field again, 

" At Magersfontein ten of us were in a shallow ditch with our faces close 
to the ground. If we put our heads up we were almost sure to be hit by the 
Lee-Metfords, which were raining death. It was in that ditch that I got this 
wound on the cheek which I just showed you. Half an hour after a chum of 
mine had rolled him a cigarette out of twist and had asked me for a light. I 
had no match, but offered him a light from my pipe. He leaned his elbow on 
the small of the back of the fellow lying between us, and was lighting his long 
cigarette at my pipe. When he got his head at the edge of the trench a bullet 
caught him just over the ear and tore the side of his head off. The cliap between 



344 THE SPEAKING OAK 

lis gave a loud yell of fri^'ht and ran to the rear, stranp;e to say. unhurt. That left 
cij^ht of us. Almost immediately there came a lyddite shell squarely into our 
trench. There was a roar and a flash and just nothingness. By and by I began to 
feel intense pain as I fought for my breath. I noticed that all of my companions 
had been killed, two of them not having been hit by the shell, only destroyed by the 
concussion. I thought I was fatally hurt, but I picked a little piece of shell out of 
my abdomen and a piece of one out of my breast and felt better. This little scar 
in mv breast you see is the place from which I took the splinter. But the shot that 
did me the most damage is this one. You notice I have only about two-thirds of 
my foot left. I was on my face shooting British soldiers, like I do deer, and this 
shot made me a prisoner and came near sending me to the shades." 

I asked the young warrior if he had at any time expected the Boers to 
ultimately defeat England. He answered that he did not, as he knew too well 
the resources of the British to think so, but that it was his hope and that of his 
people that if a sharp fight was put up at the start, terms could be secured more 
friendly to them than any that had been offered. 

Blood will tell in cattle, horses and men. In every country there are names 
the synonym of everything that is manly. The DeWets in South Africa stand for 
ability and heroism. 

Brave men will do, dare and die for their native land. 

Young DeWet took fearful risks in resisting the power of the British, and in 
escaping from captivity. But to him liberty was so dear that he would brave the 
enemy's gun or the deep ocean to secure it. In the moral world men seem to be 
fond of the captivity of sin, and are not inclined to exert very much energy in 
getting away from it. 

^• ^* ^* 

WASHINGTON IRVING AND THE OLD NURSE 
AT SUNNYSIDE 



I 



ri * ' 



CALLED at the residence of Mrs. D. F. Johnson, in Tarrytown, N. Y., 
and said, " J am told that you knew Washington Irving." She replied, 
" Yes, I did. When I was a girl of fourteen I was a waitress at the table 
and did other tasks in Mr. Irving's home. My name is Elizabeth and 
I was called Betsy. Mr. Irving always called me ' Bee.' My place was just 
behind his chair at the table. He carved the meats. His brother Ebenezer. and 
the hitter's five daughters, were usually with him at every meal. Each of Mr. 
Irving's nieces took turns week by week in acting as housekeeper, and occupying 
a chair opposite to his as the mistress of the table. What a jolly time they all 
had ! 

" The Irving's all possessed a great deal of humor. Ebenezer was as funny 
a man as Washington Irving. He was so deaf that we had to yell into his ears 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 345 

to be heard. He spoke in a whisper, but he was always saying very smart 
things. He hardly ever opened his mouth without making us laugh. As Mr. 
Washington Irving was a match for his brother, or any one else, in his expres- 
sion of fun, you can imagine what a cheerful and happy time they all had together. 
" Washington Irving was one of the sweetest-spirited men I ever saw. In 
all the time I was at his house I never knew him to be angry, nor did I ever hear 
him say an unkind word to or about any one. In speaking to his five nieces he 
invariably said, ' Dear, will you have this ? ' ' Dear, will you do that ? ' As they 
looked into his kindly eye, they knew that he meant more of tenderness than the 
most affectionate words could express. 

" I have," Airs. Johnson continued, ''a table-cover which Mr. Irving gave 
to my mother. Would you like to see it ? " "I certainly would," said I. " Alma, 
will you go upstairs and get it," she said to her daughter. The cover was brought. 
It is woollen, dark blue, with a border of orange-colored flowers woven into the 
fabric. 

I said to her, " What are the circumstances imder which Mr. Irving gave 
your mother this present ? " " They are these," said she. " There was a woman 
who nursed Ebenezer's daughters from the time of their infancy, and when their 
mother died she was almost a mother to them. She grew old and crippled with the 
rheumatism. The girls were careful of her, and when she became entirely dis- 
abled my mother was sent for to take care of her. Mother was with her the two 
years preceding her death. Mr. Irving was as kind and considerate of this old 
nurse as he would have been of a queen, and it was in recognition of this service 
in her behalf that he gave mother the present I prize so highly." 

Lord Bacon truly said, " All our actions take their hues from the complexion 
of the heart as landscapes their variety from the light." Irving's heart was sun- 
shine which was refracted in beautiful colors in his home, his writings, his per- 
sonal presence and in his character. By nature and by the Providence which 
took away from him his first and only love, there was just enough of the sombre 
introduced to lend an added charm to his life and labor. When the Knicker- 
bocker History of Nczv York was first published, Sir Walter Scott read it aloud 
to his family and laughed till his sides were sore. The world is laughing at the 
same humor just as hard to-day. The sombre element in Irving's writings 
charmed Lord Byron, who wept as he read the Broken Heart. 

As I looked at the table-cover, and through it at the great author's care for 
the old nurse, I called to mind his appreciation of lowly merit as expressed in 
The IVidozu and Her Son, in these words : *' When I looked round upon the 
storied monuments, the stately hatchments, the cold marble pomp with which 
grandeur mourned magnificently over departed pride, and turned to this poor 
widow, bowed dovv-n with age and sorrow, at the altar of her God, and oft'ering 
up the prayers and praises of a pious though a broken heart, I feel that this living 
monument of real grief was worth them all." Irving was not greater with his 



346 THE SPEAKING OAK 

pen than he was in his tender care and soHcitude for the old nurse in his home. 
Returning- to my study, impressed with the new story of Irving's intense 
affection for those closest to him, 1 took from the shelf The Talcs of a Trav- 
eler, and read : " I sank upon the grave, and buried my face in the tall 
grass and wept like a child. Yes, I wept in manhood upon the grave, as I had in 
infancy upon the bosom of my mother. Alas, how, Httle do we appreciate a 
mother's tenderness while living! How heedless we are in youth of all her 
anxieties and kindness! But when she is dead and gone; when the cares and 
coldness of the world come withering to our hearts ; when we find how hard it is 
to find true sympathy, how few love us for ourselves, how^ few will befriend us 
in our misfortunes ; then it is we think of the mother we have lost. * Oh, my 
mother! ' exclaimed I, burying my face again in the grass of the grave; ' oh, that 
I were once more by your side, sleeping, never to wake again on the cares and 
troubles of the world.' " 



WHY SPURGEON DID NOT GO TO COLLEGE 

INHERE are two wonders connected with Mr. Spurgeon ; first that he did not 
have a college education ; and second, that he did not desire one. Almost 
all of the religious leaders of modern times have been college-bred men. 
When the Barbarians conquered Rome, they buried the handle of a sword, 
leaving the blade pointing to the stars, and said force must rule the race ; the Man 
of Nazareth came down from the Tree and said love must rule the race ; and while 
they struggled, the world went down into the night of the Dark Ages. The 
universities of Europe had an important part in driving away the night. For 
centuries they prepared men of God for heroic leadership. Wycliffe in Eng- 
land, Huss in Bohemia, Luther in Germany, were not only the graduates, but pro- 
fessors and presidents of universities. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, 
was an honor man at Oxford. Most of the great preachers of the world have 
been college graduates. Spurgeon is an exception. The young pastor at Wa- 
terbeach was thought by many to be insufficiently educated for that or any 
other charges that might await him. And many of his friends, and especially 
his father and mother, begged him to go to college. He did not feel inclined to 
do so, but acceded to the desire of others. Dr. Angus, of Regent's Park Col- 
lege, London, was visiting Cambridge, and friends arranged for a meeting be- 
tween him and Spurgeon at the house of Macmillan, the publisher. Spurgeon 
went at the hour named and a girl ushered him into a room, and there he 
waited two hours. He was timid, and was afraid to ring the bell to find out 
what was the trouble. At last he rang the bell, and found that Dr. Angus had 
waited nearlv two hours for him and had taken the train for London. The girl 
had put one in one room and the other in another, and had said nothing to either 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 347 

about the other. He thought he would make an attempt to enter college, but 
he had an appointment to preacli that very afternoon, and as he crossed Mid- 
summer Common, and set his foot on a little bridge that leads to Chesterton, a 
voice seemed to speak from heaven, saying, " Seek not things for yourself — 
seek them not." This he took to be the voice of God directing him to remain 
in the pastorate, and he there and then gave up the idea of going to college. By. 
careful reading and by constant mental exercise and severe mental discipline, 
he educated himself. 

With the help of the university and the theological school, he would have 
been a great preacher, but he would not have been the Spurgeon of London. 
The university which he attended — his pulpit, the great city, and the school of 
Christ — splendidly equipped him for the great mission to which he felt divinely 
called. 

It is considered the best, almost the necessary thing now-a-days for a young 
man, having the ministry in view to attend the academy, university, and theo- 
logical school before he shall begin his public work, but there have been those, 
especially in the earlier history of our country, who, not having these high 
educational advantages, have had sermons and a ministry hard to equal. To 
their sterling native ability and character there was added the special endow- 
ment of spiritual power, by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And hundreds and 
thousands charmed with the divine magnetism of the messages, were brought 
into the Church of God. 



THE DYING COLONEL AND THE FLAG 

HE old colonel lay upon his bed, and around gathered his sorrowing 
family. He was well stricken in years, and his days were numbered, 
and the mind w^as now engaged in following the backward tract of an 
eventful life, and apparently oblivious of the present sad surroundings. 
From his youth up, his best services had been freely given to his country, and 
imder her flag he had seen many climes and stood on many battlefields. That 
lowered shoulder was shattered by a shell at the storming of Monterey, and the 
lameness of his later years was the work of a minnie ball at Gettysburg. But 
he had fought his last fight now, and to him had come that inevitable hour 
which awaits all men. 

For several hours the colonel had thus Iain silent and in a stupor, but as the 
declining sun sent its rays within the chamber window, the veteran aroused 
himself, and knew that the end was near. But he had looked upon death face 
to face too often in the past to fear him now, and it was in steady tones he asked 
to have the servants brought to him. When they had come, he addressed each 
one by name, and bid them all good-b>v, with kindly words mixed with proper 




348 THE SPEAKING OAK 

admonition. Then he asked for his favorite dog, who being brought, the vet- 
eran gently patted, while he murmured a farewell. Next he spoke brave 
words of cheer to his weeping family, and then clasped in a fond and last 
embrace the loving wife of his youth, who had so faithfully shared with him 
both good and evil fortune during all the years gone by. The old man was 
very feeble now, for the sands of life were running fast, and with faltering voice 
he called for his country's flag. 

Reverently the eldest son brought forth the banner, and tenderly laid it 
across his father's breast, who with difficulty raised one of its silken folds to his 
lips and kissed it gently ; then, looking upward with a smile upon his face, the 
old regular passed from earth. 

The love which this aged warrior showed for the dear old flag in his life 
and in his death, is that which made the foundation and perpetuity of this 
commonwealth possible. The beautiful picture of the Stars and Stripes upon 
the dying man's bosom, receiving the last kiss and the last earthly farewell, 
ought to inspire the living with an increased love for and support of our free 
institutions. 



^^NEVER MIND; WHAT AM I TO DO NEXT?" 



YEARS ago there was a young medical student in England, who failed to 
pass his examinations, upon the passing of which, it was expected his 
future success would depend. He was mortified and deeply disappointed, 
but was philosophical and said to himself, " Never mind. What is the 
next thing to be done ?" And finding the duty nearest at hand, he performed it to 
the best of his ability; and he formed the habit of allowing the little disappoint- 
ments and defeats to slip into the past without undue regret, that he might save his 
strength for the next duty that awaited him. This young medical student became 
Professor Huxley, who, after he had achieved his wide influence and lofty emi- 
nence as a scientist, said : " It does not matter how many tumbles you have in life, 
as long as you do not get dirty when you tumble. It is only the people who have 
to stop and be washed who must lose the race." 

How much time and energy are wasted in fretting over mistakes which 
might or might not have been avoided, which ought to be employed in the per- 
formance of the new duties which demand attention. There is a merciful ad- 
justment by Divine Providence in the race of life, by which many chances are 
given to each one. If the speed is too great, the racers can drop into another 
class ; if there is defeat in one contest, there are other paths and other contests 
that can be tried. The temporary defeats and disappointments of life may bring 
wisdom, but should never cause deep discouragement. They should rather 
prompt new courage and energy to enter successfully upon the next task to be 




HE RAISED 0\E OF ITS SILKEN FOLDS TO HIS LIPS 



(349) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 351 

done. It is only when the defeats of life cause whining, sourness and bitterness, 
that they hurt. 

In the religious world, very many brood and grieve over mistakes and sins 
that ought to be allowed to pass under the blood of Christ, and, by so doing 
have not the courage and strength for the new duty to be performed. It is 
through disappointment, trial, temptation and temporary defeat that the soul is 
to build up the strongest character and the holiest life. There must be no un- 
necessary repining at falling down ; only the deep determination to get up again 
at once. Most of the disappointments and defeats are the dust that settles on 
the garments of the racer as he falls, but which is easily shaken from them as 
he arises and runs to win the prize. 



AN ATHEIST CONVERTED BY HIS OWN WRITING 



€^s« 



ONCE spent a delightful hour in the study of Thomas Jay Hudson, Ph.D 
LL.D., in his beautiful home at Washington. He told me about his going 
to the common school and academy at Windham, Ohio, of the liberal edu- 
cation which a learned uncle gave to him, of his study and practice of the 
law, of his work as an editor of a newspaper and as an author of books. But the 
thing that charmed me most was the story of his conversion from atheism to Chris- 
tianity. It seems that he began his literary life as rank an unbeliever as could 
be found in the country, and by the study of the science of the human mind 
he worked his way toward Infinite Intelligence, and by the persistent investi- 
gation of the constitution of the soul, he found himself approaching the arms 
of Jesus Christ. He said : " I was a pronounced, and supposedly confirmed 
atheist. I was unwilling to believe anA'thing that was not tangible ; would not 
accept as a fact anything imsupported by scientific observation. I had no 
compunctions of conscience in denying the truth of the Bible, the divinity of 
Christ, and the future life. My reason refused to allow me to believe them. I 
never dreamed that any evidence would be furnished me of the truth of those 
sacred things, and hence expected to live the life of unbelief and die without 
any hope of the future. The Honorable Lester L. Bond, who had been my 
intimate friend from the days we had played together as boys, and to whom I 
dedicated my first book. The Law of Psychic Phenomena, said to me one day, 
* Have you ever noticed that your philosophy has demonstrated the truth of 
the Bible?' I said, ' I do not know, because I do not know anything about 
the Bible.' ' Well,' said he, ' it would be a good thing for you to study it, if 
for nothing else, to see how it verifies your psychological theories. In your 
examination of prophecy, especially that which refers to Christ, you will find a 
complete verification of your philosophy.' I immediately entered upon a care- 



352 THE SPEAKING OAK 

ful study of the Bible, and especially of the life of Christ, with the result that 
the last three chapters of my book were devoted to the sacred subject, and I 
converted myself by my own philosophical writings." I asked him if he would in- 
dicate a step or two by which he was led from atheism to the Christian faith. 
He answered: " The first step was the confirmation of the history of the life of 
Christ. Psychology showed me that that historical life was not only a possible 
truth, but that it contained internal evidences of absolute truth, because everything 
Christ did demonstrated the fact that he was endowed with an intuitive knowl- 
edge of the laws of the human soul, and that his every act was performed in 
accordance with the laws that have been recently discovered by modern science. 
Hence, his biographers could not have told the story of that wonderful life as 
they did, had it not been true, for the reason that they kept so close to the law 
of psychological phenomena as demonstrated by modern science. The first 
step led me into a still closer investigation of Christ's ethical doctrines, which, 
as everybody knows, are in accordance with the highest possible conceptions of 
duty in this world. After I had written my first book, which, I am glad to say, 
had wide circulation, I waited awhile, wondering what book I would write next. I 
received many letters asking me to w^ite a work on mental therapeutics, but some- 
thing within me held me back — I could not do it — I had to write on higher themes. 
And in the four books I have written since, I have tried my very best to atone for 
my former atheism by a scientific confirmation of the essential doctrines of the 
Christian religion." 

The rich voice, the gentle spirit, the sincere expression of this scholarly 
man, whose philosophy had led him into the arms of Jesus Christ and into the 
heart of God, added greatly to the impressiveness of his remarks. I said to 
him : " True investigation and discovery are not unfriendly but friendly 
to the Christian religion ; a true knowledge of science has destroyed several of 
the great religions of the world, but it has contributed to the better interpre- 
tation and propagation of Christianity. 



VICTORIA'S REAL CROWN 



THE crown that George and William wore was too large for the girl Queen 
Victoria, and it had to be cut down to fit her head. The jewels were set 
closer together. They were worth a hundred thousand pounds. The 
seventeen hundred diamonds that dazzled in tlie crown that was placed 
upon the head of the young queen in Westminster Abbey, over sixty-four years 
ago, were the symbols of the Christian graces that, as precious jewels, adorned her 
character as wife, mother, sovereign. She ruled over an empire broader than that 
of the Britains — the sacred domain of home, a dominion wider than the one on 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 353 

which the sun never sets, wide as the heart of humanity, boundless as the heart of 
God. England revered Victoria because she was a wise, just, merciful queen, 
but adored her for her loyalty to the Prince Consort, her devotion to the 
four sons and five daughters she bore, for her motherly affection for her people, 
for her regard for the poor, and for her love for Christ and his cause in the 
earth. It will take a nation a long time to die that considers this Christian 
wife and mother its ideal queen. It is an encouraging condition of public 
morals that the civilized world honored such a woman while living and mourned 
for her when dead. 



TEN DAYS IN PARADISE 



O^ N the Fourth of last July there was the opening of new buildings at The 
Christian Herald Children's Home, at Nyack, N. Y., and I had the 
pleasure of taking a part in the exercises. The Home is a blessed charity. 
In the beauty of the situation ; in the cleanliness, health and completeness 
of the buildings ; in the quantity and quality of the food ; in the wisdom of the 
management ; in the fidelity of those who have the care of the little ones ; in the 
variety and number of those who receive its blessings ; in the amount of genuine 
fun " to the square inch," and in the vigor of the moral and spiritual atmosphere 
of the place, there is perhaps no institution of the kind in all the world equal to it. 

In the winter of 1894, the privation among the poor of New York City was 
so great that the subscribers of The Christian Herald furnished a bread fund, 
which afforded much relief. It was determined to continue the charity in fresh 
air work for the poor children of the city. Children from four to twelve years of 
age from the crowded tenement districts, many of them pitiable little waifs, are 
allowed ten days each at this beautiful country resort. There is an average 
population in the Home of from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventv- 
five, though there have been at times three hundred guests entertained at one 
time. About two thousand enjoy the summer outing each year. Fourteen thou- 
sand have been entertained since the Home was founded, seven years ago. 

What a relief the little ones have from the stifling heat, the bad air and worse 
morals of the slum districts. 

City people sometimes laugh at the greenness of their country cousins. 
The ignorance of some of these children of the city concerning the country can 
scarcely be conceived. A little girl saw a chicken picking in the grass and said : 
" What a great big robin." She had never seen a chicken feeding, but she had 
seen robins at Central Park, when her Sunday School teacher took her there. 
A cow was looking out of a bam window and a little boy exclaimed, "O look at 
that big cat." There were plenty of cats and no cows in the Bowery. One of the 
little girls who was riding from the ferry in the stage, said : " This is the first 



354 1'HE SPEAKING OAK 

carriaj^c ride I ever had," then she paused and continued sadly, "I had one other 
wlien mother died, and 1 rode to the cemetery." 

The children are wild with joy and jj^ratitude. From the mail ha.^ I have 
taken out a few scraps that give a hint of what the little folks think of the 
Home. 

" Dear Mother. I am g"oing to stay here lo days. I get eat 3 times in a day. 
Then we go to sleep. The name of the country is Nyack. I send the best regards 

to all. Your loving son, Joe. Dear father and mother. I am very far from 

you — the air is very fresh and enuff the eating is very good an' they let me have 

all the eating I want. Your loving daughter, Bessie. Dear mamma. I will tell 

you something about the place where I am we like it very much here we could cat 
as much as we want and also drink milk. Tommy wants rite, too, but he can't. 
He don't have hedake no more an' he's got fat I wisht they'd let me stay three 

weeks like Tommy has. He says : " tell mamma, Ise dot well." Dear mother. 

Having a fine time. Blackberries are ripe. Willie. Dear mother. Instead of 

Baby crying, she is always laughing and forever eting she has a verry good appe- 
tite she laughs all the time in bed an' kicks me a great dele. She has got well. 

Annie. Dear mamma. They let me help make beds every morning. My 

teacher is so kind. I love to help. When I go home, I will bring you some 

flowers. Dear father. 1 am enjoying myself and I like this country an I hope 

you have got well an can get some work an I send 200 kisses. Johnny. Dear 

aunt. We like this country verry much we are up at five o'clock in the morning 
an go picking berries and have grand times. There's plenty to ete an milk an you 

can play on grass an there's scups an plenty of air here. Dear mother. I got 

here for supper I drank 4 mugs of nice fresh milk I am feeling verry good. It 
was jolly on the boat, an then we rode in the stage an we had hominy for breakfast 
an there's a nice new cottage called Hope Cottage an there's a tree behind it an 
it's got green apples on it an they wont let me ete 'em and so now no more from 
me at this time I am going to pick berries an swim in the pool an go up the 
mountain an there are scups here. Tom." 

The most pathetic suggestion in these letters is that there is *' plenty of air." 
Ciod bless the poor little creatures half choked to death in the ovens of the city. 

The Christ spirit which founded the Home is the chief characteristic of its 
work. There is no denominational instruction. But love for the Master is seen 
and felt in the vellow milk, the soft white bed. the romp on the lawn, the plunge in 
the pool, the gathering of wild flowers, the picking of berries, the listening to the 
birds, the happy songs, the solemn prayers. I do not think that the smallest or 
dullest child fails to understand that what is done for it is in the name of 
Jesus Christ. 

The following incident will illustrate the Christ-like atmosphere of the 
Home. There was a little Italian girl by the name of Corinna, who interested the 
workers of the Home intensely. With her flashing dark eyes, her straight black 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 355 

locks, and her thin, sharp face, she looked like a little witch. Such bitter words 
she could say ! and such a strange, hard, rebellious spirit she showed ! She seemed 
to think every one's hand was against her and that her hand must be against every 
one. Her father had been killed by one he thought his friend ; she had witnessed 
the deed ; hatred for her father's slayer was consuming her ; it was painful to hear 
falling from childish lips the vindictive, vengeful expressions she would utter. 
" When I'm big, I'll kill him !" she would say of the murderer. Her teacher talked 
with her about forgiveness. "Forgive?" she exclaimed. "We Italians never 
forgive ! " How the Housemother and her helpers labored over this poor, passion- 
ate troubled little soul! How they prayed for her! and, at last, how thankful they 
were when they saw the fruits of their loving kindness appear in the softening of 
the warped child-nature. One day, with tears in her dark eyes, the little girl 
said, with quivering lips : " For jesus' sake, I forgive ! " The change in her 
character was quick and radical ; her teachers could hardly believe the evidence of 
their senses when she became sweet, gentle and submissive. 

About half the well dressed, well behaved, self-satisfied Christians of the 
world might listen with profit to the sermon of this sweet spirited, forgiving little 
Italian waif, whose heart was melted by the Saviour's love. 

The greatest problem of the world to-day in the home and church is to take 
care of the children, their bodies, minds and souls for Jesus sake. 



LORD ROBERTS AND GENERAL MILES DISCOURAGE 

DRINKING 



ON a certain public occasion Lord Roberts was met by a large concourse of 
people, the average boy of the period, of course, being in the front row. 
One of the most insolent of these boys proudly puffed a cigarette, feeling 
that next to the hero welcomed, he himself was the largest person in the 
crowd. Lord Roberts, noticing his pride at his tobacco and smoke, said to him, 
" It is a very rude thing for a boy like you to smoke." The blush of mortification 
came to the boy's cheek and he threw away his cigarette, justly humiliated. It is 
to be hoped that the boys of England will be profited by the rebuke from such a 
source. 

Some years ago Field-Marshal Roberts was stopping at Dunbar. Walking 
along the road one afternoon, he met a soldier who saluted him. He asked the 
name of the man and the regiment to which he belonged, and they were given. 
The General exclaimed : " Ay, I mind you, there were two of you of the same 
name in your company." The General continued, lowering his voice, " But 
why have you been drinking?" " Only a glass and a half, and a mug of ale, my 
lord." "Too much, my man! Don't you do it!" Putting his hand in his 



356 THE SPEAKING OAK 

pocket Lord Roberts took out a silver piece and placed it in the man's hand. 
" Don't you do it." " No, I won't, my lord," replied the man. " You pass your 
word?" "I do, my lord." "That's well, and I trust you. Don't do it. You 
have passed your word ; keep it. Be true to yourself, and prove yourself to be a 
man — a brave man ! " 

General Miles said : " One of the principal evils undermining the character 
of the youth of the country, and destroying the intelligence and strength of 
men, not only in the army but in nearly every business and profession, is the 
use of tobacco and alcohol. If a young man would retain his clear brain, his 
manly voice and sound health, he had better eschew both." 

Tobacco is a poison, and its excessive use unquestionably shortens the life 
of many good people, and its moderate use could be dispensed with without 
damage to the world. 

The passion for strong drink nurses every vice, and produces every woe. 
The opinions of the head of the army of the British Empire, and the chief 
general of the army of the United States, on the danger of the drink habit, 
are powerful temperance lectures which ought to impress the conscience of the 
civilized world. Ministers and moral teachers are continually warning the 
people against the dangers of rum ; but here we have the two most conspicuous 
representatives of the military departments of the two greatest nations of the 
world, who are interested in building up, not only the strongest bodies, but the 
bravest hearts for victorious battle, advising their soldiers to let drink alone. 
And the advice which these two commanding generals give to the soldiers and 
sailors of the nations under them can be wisely received by those in civil life 
as well, and especially by the young, whose habits are being formed, habits that 
will determine their present and eternal destiny. 



GENERAL JOUBERT'S PIETY 

|N a conversation with Mr. Rudolph DeWet, a young Boer, about his people, 

I their country, conflict, and future, I asked him about some of his great 

I military leaders, whose skill, courage and devotion secured world-wide 

fame. He replied : 

"General Piet Joubert, under whom I first fought, was probably the most 

beloved of the Boer leaders. He had permitted the women and children to go out 

of the beleaguered Ladysmith, and had been thanked by General White for his 

humanity. 

" I was with Joubert one day on the battlefield, under a flag of truce, burying 
the dead. Dead British and Boers were being thrown into shallow ditches, often 
side by side. We were in a hurry, for it was approaching the time for the termina- 




AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 357 

tion of the truce and onr work was far from being completed. Night was coming 
rapidly on. General Joubert went to General White and said : ' I wish you would 
agree to an extension of the truce for another hour. I desire to read the burial 
service over my dead. If you have no objection, I should like to read it over your 
dead too, for I see you have no chaplain present.' 

" General White agreed to an extension of the truce. General Joubert, as 
night came down, repeated in a firm voice the burial service of the Dutch Reformed 
Church, It was a wonderful picture, and the British looked as solemn as we did 
while the service was going on. 

" Not long after this General Joubert was taken down with enteric fever, 
and when at the point of death, he expressed a wish to have his mattress taken 
out into the open air, where he could see his men and bid them farewell. It was a 
most pathetic sight, this vast body of rude undisciplined men huddled about their 
dying chief, whom they had so often followed to victory. His last words abjured 
them not to be disheartened, but to put their faith in God. He expressed the con- 
viction that everything would come out right some day, if not in the immediate 
future. I shall never forget the scene ; he died as he had fought, with the Bible in 
his hand, the veritable Bible upon which he often drew his plans and from which 
he derived his inspiration^ 

" Piet Joubert was a wonderful man, the most accomplished soldier we had, 
and the greatest in some respects." 

With a few exceptions the great military leaders of modern times have 
been those whose hearts have been as tender as their wills have been strong. There 
is true greatness where the Bible is in the hand and the spirit of Christ in the heart. 



TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS RANSOM FOR 

A CHILD 



THERE was great excitement in the city of Omaha, one winter night when 
it was learned that the son of a rich man had been kidnapped. A young 

son of Cudahy was sent from his father's house after supper on an errand. 

He failed to return ; and the most diligent search did not serve to reveal 
his whereabouts. It seems that he was in front of General Corwin's house, just 
across the street from his own home, on his way back from a near-by residence, 
when two men, coming up to him, said : " We are sheriffs from Sarpy County, 
and arrest you as Eddie McGee, who escaped from the reform school." The little 
fellow protested, insisting that they had gotten the wrong boy, but they told him he 
would have to be identified. They lifted him into a buggy, and as they drove 
along, a trolley-car passed them. The lad said : " I know that conductor, he 
will tell you I am not the boy you are looking for." They tied a bandage over 



358 THE SPEAKING OAK 

his eyes, and drove the horse quite rapidly. Reaching a house about five miles 
away, they placed young Cudahy in a room, and chained him to the floor. He 
remained there all night and the next day ; his hands and feet were chained. 
From the conversation he learned that the gang consisted of six men ; that they 
had been trying hard for four months to kidnap one of the Cudahy girls, but, 
failing in their attempt, they captured the boy. The agony of the Cudahy 
family can be imagined. There came through the mail, the following letter: 

" Omaha, Neb., December 19, 1900. 

" Mr. Cudahy : We have kidnapped your child and demand $25,000 
(twenty-five thousand dollars) for his safe return. If you give us the money the 
child will be returned as safe as when you last saw him, but if you refuse we will 
put acid in his eyes and blind him, then we will immediately kidnap another 
millionaire's child that we have spotted and demand $100,000; and we will get it, 
for he will see the condition of your child, and realize the fact that wc mean 
business, and will not be monkeyed with or captured. Get the money all in 
gold — five, ten and twenty dollar pieces ; put it in a white wheat sack ; get in your 
buggy alone on the night of December 19 at 7 o'clock p. m. and drive south from 
your house to Centre street, turn west in Centre and drive back to Ruser's Park 
and follow the paved road toward Fremont. 

" \\'^hen you come to a lantern that is lighted by the side of the road, place 
the money by the lantern and immediately turn your horse around and return 
home. 

" You will know our lantern, for it will have two ribbons, black and white, 
tied on the handle. You must place a red lantern on your buggy where it can 
be plainly seen, so we will know you a mile away. This letter and every part of 
it must be returned with the money, and any attempt at capture will be the sad- 
dest thing you ever done. If you remember, some twenty years ago, ' Charley ' 
Ross was kidnapped in New York City and $20,000 ransom asked. Old man 
Ross was willing to give up the money, but Byrnes, the great detective, with 
others, persuaded the old man not to give up the money, assuring him that 
the thieves would be captured. Ross died of a broken heart, sorry that he al- 
lowed the detectives to dictate to him. 

" This letter must not be seen by any one but you. If the police or some 
stranger knew its contents they might attempt to capture us, although against 
your wish, or some one might use a lantern and represent us, thus the 
wrong party securing the money, and this would be as fatal to you as if you 
refused to give up the money. So you see the danger if you let this letter be 
seen." 

Impelled by the strain under which the family was laboring, the father de- 
cided to give up the money and get back his son. He hated to seem to put a 
premium upon such a foul crime, but he was afraid the men would make good 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 359 

their threat, and he surrendered to their demands. He took twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars in gold, in a white wheat sack, and drove in a light buggy to the place 
the captors had indicated. He put the sack down by the stick which had the 
white light, then, without seeing or speaking to a single person, he returned 
to his home. Close by the place where Mr. Cudahy left the gold, the river 
approaches the road. It is supposed the men saw the red light of the father's 
buggy from a boat on the river ; it is likely that they came up the bank, secured 
the ransom and left no footprints to tell any tales. When they had secured the 
money, they sent the boy in a cab back to the neighborhood of his father's 
house, which he reached at about one o'clock in the morning. 

Some people criticize ]\Ir. Cudahy for not flatly refusing to pay the ran- 
som; for not daring the villains do their worst; and for not using the in- 
formation which they were bold enough to furnish him, for their detection and 
punishment. But it is likely that the average father would have surrendered 
money quickly enough to save his boy's eyes. 

The whole nation was stirred upon the subject of the kidnapped boy, and 
yet there are thousands and tens of thousands of boys and young men who are 
kidnapped every night, and little or no attention is paid to the foul robbery. The 
saloons, gambling-dens and brothels are abducting them from the home and 
hearts of loved ones, and chaining them, hands and feet, putting out the eyes of 
their conscience, bringing misery to their families, and wretchedness and ruin 
to themselves. It is high time that Christians were aroused to the necessity of 
i-escuing the youths from the kidnappers that infest every community. 



^'O! I COULD LOVE HIM" 

EING on one occasion, entertained at the home of Rev. Dr. George Pente- 
cost, at Yonkers, the host related to me several incidents connected with 
his extensive work in India, London, and America, some of which made 
a lasting impression on my mind. This is one of them : 
" It was in the city of Calcutta, where I had been holding special confer- 
ences and evangelistic meetings with the high caste educated Brahmins. On 
this particular occasion there were about two hundred middle-aged men present. 
" My address was wholly taken up by a portraiture of the life, character, 
death and resurrection of Christ ; particularly dwelling upon the human beauty 
and perfection of his character. At the close of the meeting most of the men, 
who had for half an hour courteously listened to me as I ' talked of Jesus,' went 
from the hall. Half a dozen remained and came about me, either to ask ques- 
tions or to* make some pleasant and courteous remark. Among them was a 
man of perhaps sixty years of age, a beautiful man, with a face as classically cut 
as that of an old Greek scholar. He was an official pundit of the government. He 



36o THE SPEAKING OAK 

salaamed to me, and when I returned his greeting, I said, ' Babo, I am happy to 
meet you. I hope you are a Christian ? ' For there were not a few of this class who 
in the days of Dr. Duff had embraced Christianity and faithfully lived the life. 

" ' No, sahib, I am not a Christian. I am a Hindoo, and I shall always be 
a Hindoo. I am too old to change my religion. I have been interested in your 
addresses, many of which I have heard, and confess there is much that is very beau- 
tiful and attractive in your Gospel, as you call it. I remember with respect many 
of the things we used to hear when Dr. Duff was head of our college.' 

" I had a little further talk with him, and again pressed the claims of Christ 
upon him as his loving Friend and Redeemer. 

" Again he explained his reasons for not ' becoming a Christian,' mainly 
because of the disruption of his family which would follow, and because he was 
' too old to change his religion.' Nevertheless, the fine old man was evidently 
deeply moved and touched by what he had heard, and he expressed his sym- 
pathy with my work and said nothing but good could come to his people from 
hearing about Jesus and his beautiful ' life and teachings.' I was so drawn to 
this gentle and cultured man that I detained him long in conversation, and again 
and again presented to him the blessed truth of God's everlasting love and grace 
and urged him not to turn away from the light which had come to him or resist 
the gentle drawings of the Holy Spirit. All the time he would parry my appeals 
and arguments witli some gentle words of approval, but at the same time ex- 
cusing himself from any committal of himself to Christ. Finally, he said, as he 
first salaamed and then, as an act of unusual courtesy, took my outstretched 
hand. ' No, sahib, I am a Hindoo and I shall always be a Hindoo, but O, I 
could love Him,' and this with tears in his eyes and his chin quivering with emo- 
tion. Who shall say that he did not already love Him." 

It is one of the marvels and glories of this generation that so many of the 
people of India are loving and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Christ is the complement of every human being, the other half required to 
make the human heart whole. By the zeal and heroism of the missionaries, by 
the generosity and faith of the Christians at home, the whole world will learn 
of this Saviour, and love him and be obedient to him. 

^« v» ^ 

WHAT A KIND WORD DID FOR A PLOUGHBOY 



w 



ITH his native valley, his Quaker home, his Bible, and Burns as material, 
Whittier began writing verse. After three or four years of experiment- 
ing at odd times spared from his farm work, he concluded he would like 
to have others hear his song. A good country newspaper came to his 
father's house everv week and was read by the boy. In the paper was a poet's cor- 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 361 

ner, and he wondered whether he could not get into it, and so he tried. He wrote 
a poem on the " Deity," and sent it to the paper, with some fear that it might be 
refused. 

The boy was making fences one day, when the postman, riding by, threw 
the paper over the fence to him in the field. It contained his poem, and he was 
so excited over it he could hardly get back to his work. Afterward, he wrote 
that it was the proudest moment of his life. One day he was hoeing in the field, 
when he was called to the house and told that a man had come to see John 
Greenleaf Whittier. He wondered who could want to see him. He was bare- 
footed and in his shirt-sleeves, and crept into the house by the back door. After 
putting on his shoes, and vest and coat, and smoothing his hair, he entered the 
room painfully embarrassed. The visitor said : "' My name is William Lloyd 
Garrison. I am editor of the Free Press. I printed your poem on the ' Deity ' 
and I was so pleased with it, I thought I would come and see what the author 
looked like. I see you are young ; you ought to go to some academy or college 
and fit yourself for a literary life, to which you are adapted." When the visitor 
had gone, Whittier talked the matter over with his parents ; they told him they 
had no money for tuition ; that they could hardly spare him from the farm if they 
had the means, and that poetry would not make bread. But the visitor had put 
in the young man's heart a seed that was to produce a wonderful harvest. He 
got a farmhand who understood the shoemaker's trade, to teach him how to 
make ladies' slippers out of soft leather, and he made enough out of his wares 
in one season to buy a suit of clothes and pay his tuition and board for half a 
year. 

He went to Haverhill Academy, and this meant good-bye to a little spot 
in one county ; it meant hail to the wide world and to service for a race. It was 
the breaking of the shell from which a bird of sweetest song was to be released. 
He attended the academy six months; then, teaching school in the neighbor- 
hood for a season, earned money enough for another six months' at the acad- 
emy. When his school-days ended, he entered life for himself, a young man of 
twenty-one, tall, thin, erect, handsome, bashful, genial, witty, brilliant in mind, 
pure in heart — a model Christian gentleman. 

His usefulness, success, and honor as a man and as a poet, were recognized 
by the country and the civilized world. What great results follow encourage- 
ment of young people to do some good or noble thing! No one will ever be 
able to tell the effect which the visit of the editor had upon the literary destiny 
of the barefooted farmer-boy. How often does criticism and discouragement 
check the ambition of the young, when a little warm sympathy and encour- 
agement would enkindle aspirations and give a new plan and zest to life. It 
is not recorded that the editor gave the boy even a penny of money to help him 
with his education ; only gave him commendation and wholesome advice. These 
were worth more in the making of the future bard than the present of a farm 



362 THE SPEAKING OAK 

would have been. Kind words and tender sympathies are cheap, and yet they 
are very precious, more so, often, than silver and gold. The poorest, the hum- 
blest ought to have a large measure of love with which to make happy and uplift 
the young, and bless their fellow men. 

V^ V v» 

WHITTIER'S RELIGION 



E 



\'ERY Sabbath afternoon, in the little farmhouse, the mother of John 
Greenlcaf VVhittier read and expounded the Bible to him, so that the book 
became not only the foundation of good character, but also the basis of 
literary merit and fame. Through life, like Tennyson and many other 
distinguished poets, he fairly devoured the Scriptures. He claimed that he derived 
more inspiration as a poet from them than from all other books combined. Whit- 
tier was eminently a religious poet. In his words and works he was a living com- 
mentary on the Scriptures. He was not only a poet but a prophet, a finder of the 
mystery of God in nature, in humanity, in the Book, and a faithful revcaler of 
that mystery to the children of men. He felt that his words were from the 
Divine promptings, that his acts were performed in obedience to the Divine 
command. Now he stands on Sinai to cry out against the sins of the people 
and voice God's anger against them, and nowl he stands at the Cross of his 
vSaviour in tears singing of love and of life. The world loves to hear him sing, 
because his voice and lyre are tuned to the melodies of heaven. Longfellow 
beautifully refers to his spirituality in lines written on Whittier's seventieth 
birthday : 

" O thou whose daily life anticipates 
The life to come, and in whose thought and word 
The spiritual world predominates. 
Hermit of Amesbury ! Thou too hast heard 
Voices and melodies from beyond the gates. 
And speakest only when thy soul is stirred ! " 

The people of New England at the time Whittier came upon the stage were 
brilliant in intellect, correct in morals and pure in spirituality. They had such 
literal faith in God, in prayer, in providence, in the Bible, in the Atonement, in 
Immortality, that life was a terribly solemn thing, and duty was the undisputed 
sovereign of thought and of act. They never thought of anything but making 
religion the chief end, the all of life. Whittier was the religious exponent of his 
time. He was a Quaker, but, as some one has said, the Quaker was only a 
Puritan dressed in drab. Excepting Milton, Whittier was the greatest poet of 
Puritanism that ever lived. He believed the cardinal doctrines of Christianity as 
taught by most of the churches of his time, and most of the churches of our time. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 363 

His faith in the Atonement is expressed in the " Crucifixion," which closes as 
follows : 

" And shall the sinful heart alone 

Behold unmoved the atoning hour 
When Nature trembles on her throne 
And death resigns his iron power? 
O, shall the heart, whose sinfulness 

Gave keenness to His sore distress 
And added to His tears of blood 
Refuse its trembling gratitude." 

His trust in Divine Providence is voiced in a poem which contains this 
verse : 

" And thou, O Lord, by whom are seen 
Thy creatures as they be, 
Forgive me if too close I lean 
My human heart on Thee." 

His intense love for Christ is breathed in " Our Master," which will live as 
long as " Snow Bound." We copy two stanzas, that contain a whole volume 
of essential truth : 

" Apart from Thee all gain is loss, 

All labor vainly done ; 
The solemn shadow of thy Cross 

Is better than the sun. 
Alone, O Love ineffable ! 

Thy saving name is given 
To turn aside from Thee is Hell, 

To walk with Thee is Heaven." 

The warmth of brotherly love, which was a part of his love for God, can be 
felt in almost everything Whittier has written. 

In the literary history of nations men of genius have often been so reckless 
in their morals that the world half looked for social weaknesses where the poetic 
instinct was discovered. Whittier, and the cluster of great men contemporary 
with him that made American poetry what it is, have shown that temperance, 
social purity and religious vigor are most becoming to the poet. That Whittier, 
a man who never touched wine in its mildest form : who had the courage to 
propose the health of the shoemakers in a glass of cold water ; who was so relig- 
ious that he performed every act with reference to the Last Day; who was so 
consecrated that Christ's image was in his character and Christ's spirit was in 




364 THE SPEAKING OAK 

his life; who closed almost every poem with an exhortation to he jrood, to love 
God and man — that such a man should he one of the best-loved poets the country 
has ever produced, is an evidence of the encouraging condition of the public 
conscience. 

m^ *^ *^ 

DID I DO ALL THAT I COULD? 

N a terrible storm on Lake Michigan, the Elgin was wreclced near Evanston, 
Illinois, The life-savers of the crew of the Northwestern University 
worked heroically for the rescue of the people. One member of the crew 
after another became exhausted with his labor, until only two brothers 
were left. At last they, too, sank down, worn out, on the beach. One brother said 
to the other : " I must go out to the wreck one more time." The brother 
answered, " You are not able ; you will perish in the storm." He said, " I cannot 
bear to see those people die," and, breaking from his brother, went to the wreck. 

After a time, he returned, more dead than alive, bringing two persons in. 
He fell upon the beach so exhausted that he could not speak. 

They laid him out on the sand, and when he had rallied a little, he uttered a 
faint whisper. His brother, leaning over him, caught these words : " Did I do 
all that I could? Did I do all that I could? " The brother said, " Certainly you 
did, you saved seventeen." He answered faintly, " What are seventeen to the 
many who were lost," They took him to the hospital, where for some time he 
lay in a critical condition, and was heard constantly to say, " O! if I could have 
saved just one more." 

More than twenty years afterward, Miss Harriet Taylor was making an 
address to young women in Los Angeles, Cal., in which she made reference to 
this man's heroism. A young lady, at the conclusion of the service, came to the 
platform, and asked the speaker if she knew who that young hero was. The 
speaker answered that she did not know, except that she understood that his 
name was Spencer. The young lady said, " That man was my father ; the terrific 
struggle of that hour made him more or less of an invalid for life. He is now 
entirely used up. He is a very devout Christian, and when he undertakes to do 
church work, even, we have to hold him back; but he always answers, ' I must 
work as hard to save souls from being lost as I did to save the people from the 
wreck.' " 

Every member of Christ's Church belongs to the crew of the life-saving 
ser\'ice, and should do everything possible to rescue the perishing. 

There can be no life question more important than the one asked by the noble 
hero on the sand, " Did T do all that I could ? " It will be well if the affirmative 
answer given to him shall be heard by us. Not a fraction of duty imperfectly 
done, but all of duty fully performed, should be the motto of every Christian. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 365 

The deep life-saving instinct which led the brave young man to say, " Oh that I 
could have saved one more," v^as worthy the heart of an angel, and suggests 
intense passion for the rescue of souls which prompts the spirit to this lament, 
" Oh that I could have saved one more." 

^« «,« ^ 

THE SANITARY COMMISSION AN ANSWER TO 
LINCOLN'S PRAYER 



I 



N my study at Buffalo, the officers of the church, after the business of an 
evening had been transacted, fell into an informal discussion of the sub- 
ject of Lincoln's religion. One claimed that Lincoln was a rank atheist. 
Another said he was inclined to think him an unbeliever, especially since 
he had read what Lincoln's old law partner had said on the subject. Most of those 
present held the opinion that he was a man of faith and prayer, a true Christian. I 
suggested that the difference of opinion on the subject grew out of the fact that 
early in life Lincoln, like many others, had a period of unbelief, when he said 
and wrote some things unfriendly to Christianity, but that when he came up to 
the tremendous responsibilities of leadership that were laid upon him, he leaned 
hard upon the Divine arm, and sought and found the Divine guidance, and that 
in character and life he proved himself to be a true Christian. Dr. Hill, a trustee, 
who had been silent up to this time said : " Brethren, I think I can settle the 
question and put at rest any doubt of the great President's faith. During the 
war there was a reception given at the White House to the members of the 
Sanitary Commission. I was present. During the evening I took the oppor- 
tunity to compliment President Lincoln on the wonderful success of the Com- 
mission. He said, ' Doctor, would you like to know how this institution was 
started?' 'I certainly would, Mr. President,' said L He continued, 'One 
rainy night I could not sleep ; the wounds of the soldiers and sailors distressed 
me ; their pains pierced my heart, and I asked God to show me how they could 
have better relief. After wrestling some time in prayer, he put the plans of the 
Sanitary Commission in my mind, and they have been carried out pretty much 
as God gave them to me that night. Doctor, thank our kind Heavenly Father 
and not me for the Sanitary Commission.' Do you think," said Dr. Hill, *' that 
a man that would do or talk that way could be anything but a true believer. 
Gentlemen, if those of us who are leaders in the church shall have as much real 
religion as President Lincoln had we will have very little difficulty in getting to 
heaven." 

After Dr. Hill had spoken there was nothing more to be said on the subject, 
but to agree unanimously that Lincoln was a true believer in God and in his 
holy religion. 



366 THE SPEAKING OAK 

THE DEAD STILL WITH US 



CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL was a very healthy man, but his 
wife had many years of invalidism. He was always devoted to her, and 
especially so durinc: the long period of her illness. She was unable to 
attend church, and every Sunday morning, before going himself, he 
would read the service to her. After her death he continued the custom. He would 
draw the chair in which she used to sit close to his, and read the service as though 
she were there listening to him. On the first anniversary of her death he wrote : 
" From the hour of our union to that of our separation, I never ceased to thank 
heaven for this its best gift. I have lost her, and with her the solace of my life. 
Yet she still remains the companion of my retired hours, still occupies my inmost 
bosom." He was not greater as the eminent jurist than he was as the affec- 
tionate husband. Such an example of conjugal affection is an inspiration and 
safety to American homes. It may be that the spirit of his companion was not 
far away from the vacant chair. 

" With a slow and noiseless footstep 
Comes that messenger divine. 
Takes the vacant chair beside me. 
Lays her gentle hand in mine. 

" And she sits and gazes at me 

With those deep and tender eyes, 
Like the stars so still and saintlike, 
Looking downward from the skies." 

THE BLUE AND THE GRAY 



ALTHOUGH it had been more than thirty years since the close of the Civil 
War, the bitterness between the North and the South was far from being 
cured. The revolving years, with the green grass and wild flowers, and 
a new generation had done their best to cover up the scars that war had 
made, but a solid South and practically a solid North when old issues were revived, 
was an index of the hostile sectional feeling and a barrier to the largest fraternity. 
The one year of war with Spain did more to bring the North and South together 
than all the thirty odd years had done before. With such men as a Lee and a 
Grant, a Joe Wheeler and a Wilson as leaders, the men who wore the blue and the 
men wdio wore the gray, and the sons of the men who wore the blue and of 
those who wore the gray, fell into line under the old flag, and by their heroism 
and sacrifice united the North and the South in a loving brotherhood. Pres- 




HE WOULD READ THE SERVICE TO HER 



(367) 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 369 

ident AIcKinljey contributed much to the complete unity between the people of 
the North and Southland. In his visit to the South, he was so conservative 
and tender and affectionate in his words and actions that the people of that 
section were drawn to him as by a magnet, and closer still to the Union of 
which he was the head. Though he had fought, when a mere boy, in the 
Union army, he told them that the time had come to bury all sectional differ- 
ences, and for the Government to share with the Southern people, the care of 
the graves of the Confederate dead. This expression of love, of magnanimitv 
set the people of the South wild with enthusiastic love for the President and for 
the old Union which he represented. At a banquet in Buffalo, President McKin- 
ley said : " The army of Grant and the army of Lee are together. They are 
one now in hope and in faith, in fraternity, in purpose and in invincible patriot- 
ism, and therefore the country is in no danger. In justice strong, in peace 
secure, and in devotion to the flag all one." 



THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN REPUBLIC 



GENERAL TOMAS ESTRADA PALMA, the first President of the 
Republic of Cuba, has had his home for nearly twenty years at Central 
\^alley, New York, a village about forty miles from New York City. 
Electors favorable to his candidacy were chosen without opposition on 
December 31, 1901, and two days later I had the pleasure of an interview with him 
at his New York residence. The estate comprises twenty-five or thirty acres, 
beautifully situated at the foot of the Ramapo Mountains. The house is a large 
four-story, modern building, occupied in part by a school — the Estrada Palma 
Institute. In front of the house is a row of weeping-willow trees, and in proximity 
is a pretty pond, on which skaters were having great sport on the day of my visit. 

The porch door was opened by General Palma, whose greeting was demo- 
cratic and cordial. Had I not made a study of his picture, I should have been 
surprised at his appearance. 

In complexion, and in color of hair and eyes, he is far from being a typical 
Cuban ; but, nevertheless, he is a thoroughbred one. Physically, he is below the 
average height, but is well built, with broad shoulders. He was so polite and so 
modest, and at the same time so dignified, that I felt myself in the company of a 
man not only kind in spirit, but also of large intellectual and moral stature, and 
two hours of conversation with him confirmed this impression. 

Seated in his office, I said to him : " General, I wish to congratulate you on 
your election, and I am glad that the people have shown a just recognition of your 
lifelong devotion to the cause of Cuban freedom." He thanked me. 

It is well known that the general dislikes to talk about himself: but I told 
him that I had come to obtain some information about him, personal as well as 



370 THE SPEAKING OAK 

political, and that, as he belonged to the public in a wider sense than ever before, 
the world desired to know more about him. 

" Very well," he replied, *' I will give you my story briefly. I was born in 
Bayamo, Province of Santiago, in 1835. My father died when I was a boy, and 
I was left entirely to the care and training of my mother. 

*' After my preliminary education, I prepared for the law at the University of 
Havana. Before graduation from the law school, however, my guardian died, and 
I was compelled to return home and take charge of the large properties which my 
father had left me. As a young man, I took a deep interest in the general move- 
ment on the island to secure more liberal reforms from Spain. We were not 
planning insurrection, but internal reform. The Spanish government refusing, 
however, to grant any concessions, we concluded that is was necessary to appeal 
to arms to redeem the island from the oppression of the Spanish yoke. The war 
for Cuban independence broke out in 1868. I was elected a member of the 
Chamber of Representatives of the republic just proclaimed. This legislative 
body appointed some of its members delegates to the army, and they were often 
called upon to take part in the conflicts on the field. I was one of those military 
delegates. In 1876, I was elected president of the republic, and in October, 1877, 
after several days of severe fighting, I was taken prisoner and sent to Spain, 
where I was imprisoned in the famous castle of Figueras, not far from the 
Pyrenees. I had spent about nine years in the saddle of war, and was dreary of 
heart at the outlook for my country. In February, 1878, the Cubans and Span- 
iards made an agreement of peace, called the compact of Lanjon, and in June of 
the same year I was set free. I must say that during my imprisonment I was 
treated kindly. The Spanish government wished me to go to Cuba to aid the 
Captain-General in affirming the treaty of peace and in promoting the work of 
reconstruction, and many flattering promises were made to me if I would comply 
with the request. Among other things promised was that I should have restored 
to me my estates, which had been levied upon by the Spanish government. But 
I brushed all the fair promises aside, and resolved that I would never set foot on 
the soil of Cuba so long as it should be under Spanish rule. Being convinced of 
my inability to do anything for Cuba in the United States, I went to Honduras, 
where I was appointed postmaster-general; afterwards I was principal of the 
Normal School supported by the government. 

" In the capital of the country, I married the daughter of President Quar- 
diola, who had died in 1863. But my heart was all the while longing for my 
native island, and I determined to return to the United States, where I might 
possibly render some service in its liberation. I established this school in Central 
Valley, for boys and young men of the Spanish-American countries, and it has 
been successful. This house has been a home for my family, and, from the start, 
has been the scene of incessant plans for the liberation of Cuba. About the time 
I came here, I united with Jose Marti in plans for another uprising. The last 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 371 

steps for the movement which broke the power of Spain in Cuba were arranged 
in this house by Marti, General Gomez, and myself. According to those plans, a 
second war began February 24, 1895. Marti was killed May 11, 1895, ^"^ I 
was elected, in the beginning of July, delegate of the Cuban Emigration, to look- 
after the interest of the Revolution. 

" In September, the Cuban provisional government appointed me its general 
agent and diplomatic representative in the Exterior. For four years I was head 
of the delegation, doing my best, sending munitions of war, and working in 
Washington to secure the notice and favor of the United States government, and 
its help in our struggle for freedom. In the providence of God, that help came, 
and the rule of Spain in Cuba was broken forever. In June, 1899, I closed my 
office in New York, and retired to private life, feeling that my work for Cuba 
was done." 

I asked the general on what grounds he based his hope of the ultimate 
success of the Cuban Republic. 

" To begin with," he replied, " we have an island materially rich, with a 
fertile soil, and salubrious climate. The people are industrious, especially those 
in the country districts ; all that they ask is to have plenty of work at reasonable 
compensation. They are fond of home, and by nature are law-abiding. Thev 
love liberty and are brave, but relentless when stirred by oppression. The Cubans 
are anxious for their children to be educated. One of the reasons assigned in the 
Declaration of the Ten Years' War was that Spain treated us so murderously in 
order to pay the standing army that oppressed us, and would not furnish schools 
sufficient to educate our children. The Cuban people are singularly hospitable. 
A stranger, visiting a home, is not only treated with kindness, but is offered a cup 
of coffee as an evidence of good-will. They have what is called the Southern type 
of hospitality. Though our people are hard workers, they are not, as a rule, as 
provident as people of industrial habits ought to be. They have a free and easy 
way, spending their money on the present rather than saving for a rainy day. 
They are just and honest in their dealings and have faith in God." 

I asked the general whether or not he had permanently lost his properties in 
Cuba. 

" My wealth," he said, " originally consisted of vast lands, large, ample 
houses and barns, and slaves. When I entered the Ten Years' War, I called my 
slaves together and told them to go free. That war resulted in the extinction of 
slavery on the island. My houses and barns and fences were destroyed by the 
pillaging of war. When the United States took the hand of Spain off the island, 
it was taken off my land, of course, and I have the title to it again." 

General Palma spoke good English, but now and then, during our conversa- 
tion, the Spanish accent would leave me in doubt as to his exact meaning, when 
he would say the same thing in Spanish to his sons, Jose and Tomas, Jr., who 
would repeat the sentence to me in a little plainer English. 



372 THE SPEAKING OAK 

General Toinas Estrada Palma, with his ability, his political sagacity, his 
patriotism, his bravery, his domestic fidelity, his integrity, his modesty, his kind- 
ness, and his faith in the Almighty, will make an ideal first President of the 
Cuban Republic. 

The singleness of purpose of General Palma accomplished miracles. The 
deep soul-consuming determination of his life was to set Cuba free. Though 
defeated in the field his spirit was unconquered. While teaching school and sup- 
porting his family in our land, he was all the while patiently winning the favor 
of the United States to his cause, and finally he secured the intervention of our 
government which broke the power of Spain in Cuba. 

There is no such thing as failure to an imperial will, especially if it be 
coupled with a strong faith in the living God. 

^* v» >• 

WASHINGTON'S HABITS OF DEVOTION 



M 



^R. ROBERT LEWIS, a nephew of George Washington and his private 
secretary during the first part of his Presidency, is the authority for the 
statement, that it was Washington's custom to enter his library between 
four and five o'clock in the morning to read a chapter in the Bible, and, 
with the open book before him, to kneel down and pray earnestly to God, committ- 
ing himself and the young nation to Divine care and guidance. And at the close of 
the day, when the work was done he would kneel in prayer, returning thanks for 
the blessings that had been received, and give himself up to heaven's watch-care 
for the night. 

It is not the occasional prayer or act of benevolence that is of value, but the 
habitual acts of devotion and charity which tell in the development of a stalwart 
Christian character. There are some who overestimate the value of routine 
observances in religion, but equally to blame are those who have no set time 
for religious devotion. The Creator has set times for about everything in 
Nature ; we know when the sun and moon will rise and set ; when the flowers 
will bloom, and the harvests ripen; when the tides will ebb or flow; when the 
birds will fly away from us, and when they will return. Analogy suggests set 
times for religious devotion and service. There is no more reason why we 
should arise in the morning, eat our meals through the day, go to and return 
from our secular work at the same hour each day, than that we should have set 
times for the reading of the Scripture, for prayer, and for the worship of God. 
When there is no special inclination to do so, a systematic observance of Chris- 
tian duty will often inspire the soul with the loftiest sentiment and refresh it 
with richest food. In this fast age, when cars, ships, horses and men are striving 
to reach such high speed, there are too many who will not stop long enough 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 373 

before beginning their earthly employments to say, " Give us this day our daily 
bread." A greater attention paid to daily observance of religious duty would 
bring increased power and usefulness to the individual and to the Church. 



DE WET, THE BLACK ANGEL OF THE BOERS 



MR. RUDOLPH DE WET gave me the following tragical incident con- 
nected with the life of his uncle, Christian DeWet, the celebrated Boer 
leader: 

" Christian DeWet, my uncle, I consider the sternest and sturdiest 
military leader the world has known since the days of Cromwell. He has been 
our pillar of fire and the flame that illuminates him came from the burning of his 
own soul. When Joubert died, my uncle sent for me to go with him. I was his 
favorite nephew, when he was merely a butcher and small farmer on the outskirts 
of Bloemfontein. I rode with my uncle into the battle of Kroonspruit, where he 
fairly earned the title of General. We harried and drove the British like sheep. 
We fell on them from secret places. With surprise and panic we burst upon them. 
We shot them from a thousand little fortresses. Brave men they were, too. But 
when every rock spat death at them, when every bush volleyed destruction for 
them, with never a living enemy visible to fight, well might they be forgiven for 
shooting in helpless rage at the great hard blue African sky — for sky and rock 
and veldt were all that they beheld while death was taking them off. 

" There was one tall young trooper riding w^ell in front. I had his range for 
a long while before we got ready to fire. I think he fell the first of all, but I cannot 
be sure, for at the same time our four thousand rifles broke loose, and the British 
column shivered and tore apart as veldt dust before the blast of storm. After the 
first volley there v/as no instant when the air was free from the crackle of the guns, 
and the flashes of fire running rigzag like lightning to and fro along our hiding 
places. Some there were in that slaughter pen, in the river bed below us who 
came savagely upward charging now this rock, now that, as they caught the rattle 
or flash of the Mauser. Many there were who stood high and straight searching in 
vain for a foe. Like British grenadiers of old they took what was to be and so 
died with their faces toward us. 

*' The English soldiers began their retreat to Bloemfontein, and we, well satis- 
fied that we had given them what Cronje got at Paardeburg, let them go. They 
left in our trap a hundred wagons full of supplies, six hundred prisoners and seven 
beautiful gims. The whole commando was jumping for joy. Men were hugging 
each other like a lot of girls, and hundreds danced and skipped like children. 

" My uncle called his men together, and stood within their circle and offered 
prayer to God. I have read of old Cromwell's Roundheads doing this, and the 



374 THE SPEAKING OAK 

thought of them came to me standing there in the dry river bottom with the simple, 
sturdy plain figure of my uncle leading in our Dutch prayer of thanksgiving. 
When the bowed heads of the commando had been raised he opened his Bible and 
read a psalm ; and then, just as we were about to disperse, a messenger came 
galloping in. He rode straight up to General DeWet, and no man who was there 
can recall the words he said. But we all remember that from four thousand throats 
there came a growl of rage as if the spruit were filled with great wolfish animals 
instead of men. For to DeWet had come the news that his son, standing in the 
doorway of the little home in Elizabeth street, Bloemfontein, had been shot through 
the head and killed instantly. His daughter, seeing her brother fall, had gone 
insane, and within three days had died in the British hospital from congestion of 
the brain. His wife, bereft at one blow of both of her children, had been taken 
away to the Cape, and there, in the British lines, she too, had died. 

" Christian DeWet turned such a face on the messenger as I hope I may never 
see on any human being again. For a moment he stood thus with lines of horror 
frozen on his visage and figure. Then he raised his hand with the Bible in it and 
hurled the sacred book from him with all his strength, and with a terrible voice 
cried out ' God ! There is no God.' And cursing God, he fell on his face into the 
sand. 

" I do not know how long he lay there. I only know our whole commando 
stood as silent as the veldt itself. Now and then there was a rustle in the close 
packed ranks as some in the rear raised themselves on tiptoes to look over the 
heads of those in front at their commander fighting out his passion on the earth. 
Minutes went by, and still he lay, face down, motionless, except for convulsive 
heavings of his broad, strong shoulders. When Christian DeWet arose, the face 
that he turned on us was not that of a man. His lips were drawn back into the 
snarl of a carnivorous beast. His voice fairly hissed the torture of his heart. To 
what he said the whole commando roared approval, and again it was as if the river 
bed held hungry wild beasts growling ominously, for what he said was this: 
" From this moment I live only to kill Englishmen ! Slay, slay ! " 

" From that moment the rifle of Christian DeWet spoke first in every battle, 
and every time it spoke an English soldier fell. From that moment he became 
the Black Angel, the Black Killer. The Black Devil the British soldiers called him. 
It was a sad day for the English treasury and the English army when my uncle's 
family was wiped out. 

" When the time came for me to ask for a furlough to visit my mother, I had 
my last talk with General DeWet. ' Go, my dear boy,' said he, ' whom I love as a 
son. Go with my blessing. Ah, I envy thee, Adolph! Thou still hast the dear 
ones to love. But mine — mine are in the great beyond.' And breaking down in 
sobs he spurred his horse and rode into the gloom. Those who knew my uncle as 
the silent, kindly neighbor in times of peace would scarcely recognize him now. 
His heavy eyebrows have lowered until they almost hide his eyes. His mouth is 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 375 

hard and unsmiling. Deep lines furrow his face. His beard, that was black and 
trim when he took the field, now is straggling, and as whitened as if a veldt snow- 
storm had swept over it." 

The Boer general of whom Mr. Adolph DeWet spoke and his brothers-in- 
arms were remarkable men. The good old Dutch stock with the tuition of the sky, 
the stars, the mountain, the solitude, and communion with God was certain to 
make a strong people in South Africa. The simple children of nature became 
singularly resourceful, able, brave and devout. The leaders of such a people we 
would naturally expect to be great men, and so they were. Their military genius, 
their all daring courage, their tremendous energy, and their sublime faith in 
Divine Providence made them the peers of any warriors of any time. The two 
sides of the Boer character, those of mildness and severity had their expression in 
the pathetic tenderness of Joubert, and in the terrible sternness of DeWet. General 
DeWet, soon after he threw away his Bible and cursed God repented of his sin, 
secured Divine forgiveness, and to this day has had the warmest affection for and 
unfaltering faith in Almighty God. But he did not forget the vow he took at 
Kroonspruit to inflict every possible damage upon the English army. His per- 
sistency to the last furnishes one of the most heroic pictures in modern warfare. 
There he stands alone, his family dead, his army captured, his resources gone, no 
friendly nation offering help ; there he stands, this plain old-fashioned butcher, 
stronger than a hundred thousand of the best trained troops of Europe, and hold- 
ing the great British Empire at arm's length for a whole year, and compelling 
terms of peace far different from those that would have been granted without his 
bravery, terms of peace not at all dishonorable to his people. 

There is almost nothing impossible in the religious life to a strong will backed 
by Divine energy. We ought to be uncompromising and persistent in our warfare 
against all our spiritual foes. 



AN UNPUBLISHED CHAPTER IN WASHINGTON IRVING'S 

LIFE 



^ 



I 



T has been one hundred and nineteen years since Washington Irving was 
born, but only forty-three years since he died. It occurred to me that 
some of his old friends might still be lingering on the shores of Time, 
and that they might be able to give me some new facts about his char- 
acter and life. Accordingly, I started on my search. 

Nearly every one I spoke to on this subject in Tarrytown, New York, said : 
" Irving's old pastor, Dr. J. Sheldon Spencer, is still living. He knows more 
about the inner life of the great author than any other man." 

I went to the rectory of Christ's Episcopal Church in Tarrytown, where I met 
the venerable pastor. He is four score years of age, but in the color of his hair, 



376 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the lustre of the eye, the grasp of the hand, the tone of the voice, and the vigor 
of the mind, he does not appear over three score years and ten. 

" Dr. Spencer," I said, " I am searching for new things about Washington 
Irving. I am glad that I found you, for two reasons, because you knew him so 
well, and because it is likely that you can give me some facts about his religious 
life which has been almost entirely overlooked by his biographers. It has been a 
surprise to me that a man whose spirit was molded so nearly like that of his 
Master; whose writings have such a pure, healthy tone; whose life from beginning 
to end stood for righteousness, should be photographed by his biographers with the 
religioi'iS element omitted. Dr. Spencer, you will do a service to the memory of 
your departed friend, and to the living, if you will supply this chapter which 
has been omitted in the history of his life." 

The venerable rector, his eyes trashing with emotion, said : " I can and will 
do so, for I have material for the purpose at hand and will give you what you 
desire. Let me explain, however, why so little is said about the religious side of 
Irving. He was by nature exceedingly modest. He did not care to have public 
attention directed to any of his good qualities. He practised his piety, but made 
no noisy profession of it. He considered his Christian experience a sacred thing 
to be felt and lived, rather than to be talked about. He intended that Life and 
Letters, by Pierre Irving, should be his autobiography. He placed most of the 
material in his nephew's hands for the work. The latter told me so. Irving, with 
his native modesty, and his aversion to parading so sacred a thing as his spiritual 
life, left out all reference to his religious experience ; and, as most of the biog- 
raphers went to the Life and Letters for their data, finding no mention of the 
divine side of his character, they were silent also on this subject. 

" My acquaintance with Washington Irving began in 1853, and it soon ripened 
into friendship under circumstances most tender and affecting. At the beginning 
of my ministry in Christ Church, Tarrytown, N. Y., my first wife died. Irving 
was one of the first to call upon me and proffer me the comfort and strength of 
his tender sympathy. The warm and prolonged pressure of his hand made me 
feel the power of his sympathy, and then followed these few words, softly and 
gently spoken, ' They who minister to others must not themselves refuse consola- 
tion.' In my sorrow it was a personal revelation of human tenderness, next to 
the benediction of the Master. 

" I can never forget the embarrassment I first experienced in preaching before 
him. I painfully anticipated the criticism of one who stood in the foremost rank 
of all authors. But T soon found that there was no more devout or attentive 
hearer in the church than he. He sat in his pew with his head resting lightly on 
his hand, in that pensive attitude which one of his portraits exhibits. He would 
thus sit with his eyes intent upon the speaker as one anxious to receive some 
truth for his soul's health. With all his powers of mind, he knew of no other 
spiritual sustenance than the Gospel of Christ, and its plain, simple truths. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 377 

" During my first interview with him at Sunnyside, he introduced the sub- 
ject of church music, of which he was particularly fond, though I do not think he 
could sing a note; but the sentiment and the melody deeply affected him. He 
referred to the " Gloria in Excelsis." Repeating the words as if they were the 
joyful refrain of his own heart, he exclaimed, his eyes filling with tears, and his 
voice trembling with emotion : ' That is religion, Mr. Spencer ; that is true 
religion for you. I never hear the hymn without having my mind lifted up, and 
my heart made better by it.' 

" During another visit he spoke to me of this text, which had profoundly 
impressed him, ' My Son, give me thine heart.' Years before he must have been 
deeply impressed with it, for on looking over a volume of Bishop Wainwright's 
sermons, I found one on the text, accompanied by the statement that it was sug- 
gested to the Bishop by Washington Irving, as a text which, more than all others, 
he should like to hear treated in a sermon. On another occasion, on the church 
porch, he uttered with great feeling the same general thought, in words which 
may be classed with the best and most beautiful he ever expressed : ' Religion 
is of the heart, not of the head. We may, with the understanding, approach the 
vestibule of the Temple, but it is only with the heart that we can enter its holy 
precincts and draw near its sacred altar.' 

" Mr. Irving was confirmed in the Trinity Episcopal Church in New York 
City, though his parents were Covenanters. But when he came to Tarrytown and 
built his Sunnyside home, he became a regular communicant in our church, and 
continued ever after a most devout and exemplary member of the parish. He 
once told me that, when he first attended church, he was rather restless during the 
ritual service and waited impatiently till it was over, and then settled himself to 
hear the sermon. But one Sunday, he said, as he was entering the church, the 
solemn exhortation to confession was being read, and the thought struck him that 
he too had sins to confess, and so he fell upon his knees and joined in the humble 
confession of sins. ' And,' said he, in that emphatic way which always carried 
with it the conviction of his sincerity, and with an earnest gesticulation of his arm, 
which those who knew him well remember, ' from that day forward the church 
service has ever been to me an increasing and never ending source of comfort 
and delight.' 

" Who will say that the Bible and Prayer Book of that fair maiden who was 
Washington Irving's early and only love, which from the first hour of agony at 
his irreparable loss, were ever by him, taken with him in all his travels, and at 
his death were still by his side, were not, from their sweetly sad associations as 
well as from their spiritual counsel and comfort, the means of hallowing that 
gifted heart with high and holy purposes of duty and with the blessed hope of 
everlasting life, in which he lived and died. 

*' Mr. Irving took an active part in the practical work of the church. After 
his return from Spain, as United States Minister, he was elected warden of our 



378 THE SPEAKING OAK 

church. It became his duty, amon,Gf other things, to take up the collection. On 
coming out of church one Sunday, he said, his eyes twinkling with humor. * I 
have passed that plate so often up and down the aisle, that I begin to feel like a 
highwayman. I feel as if I could stop a man on the road and say, ' Your money 
or your life ! ' 

" At one of the vestry meetings, Mr. Holmes, one of the members, was accom- 
panied by an inoffensive pet dog, which took refuge at his feet. There was an 
animated discussion. Mr. Holmes, in his earnest manner, pressed his views 
upon the meeting, and the discussion threatened to be prolonged and serious. 
When he had ended, Irving, who was always a peacemaker, arose and inquired 
of the chairman whether Mr. Holmes should be allowed to put them all in bodily 
terror, adding that he had not only come to advocate his measure, but had brought 
with him a fierce beast to overawe the vestry and control their votes." * And,' he 
added, pointing to the little dog, ' there he is now by his side, keeping guard.' 
And the irresistible drollery of his speech and manner allayed at once the heat of 
the discussion, and diffused a feeling of perfect good-nature over the meeting, 
which gave a satisfactory settlement of the question." 

By a stairway and a door we entered the beautiful audience room of the 
church, from the rectory. There is was, the same pew, with the same cushion, 
just as it had been left by the great author the day before he died, the only 
change being the removal of the pew a few feet to the baptistery. Above the pew 
is a beautiful memorial tablet. In the centre is the Irving coat-of-arms — two 
royal supporters holding a shield emblazoned with holly leaves, having as a crest 
a hand holding a bunch of holly. The story is that Robert Bruce was aided in 
his struggle by William Irvin, and that on taking his throne, he knighted his faith- 
ful friend and gave him the Castle of Drum in Aberdeenshire, and his own coat- 
of-arms. The castle, which is now owned by Alexander Forbes Irvine, has been 
in the possession of the family since the days of Bruce. The holly of the coat-of- 
arms is the sign of the deliverance of Irving's ancestor and his king. The tablet 
has the inscription : 

Washington Irving, 

Born in the City of New York, April 3, 1783. 

For many years a Communicant and Warden of the Church 

and 

Respectfully one of its Delegates to the Convention of the Diocese. 

Loved, Honored, Revered, 

He fell asleep in Jesus 

March 28, 1859. 

As we went out of the front door of the church, I noticed the beautiful ivy 
covering the tower, and Dr. Spencer said, *' Mr. Irving planted that ivy with his 
own hand. It was a cutting from the vine which mantles his own Sunnyside, 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 379 

which was originally brought from the ruins of Melrose Abbey," The little slip 
had grown into trunk, which I could scarcely span with both hands. 

I asked the venerable pastor about Irving's love for children. He said, " He 
was passionately fond of them, and they were charmed by him. I have seen the 
children flock about him in the vestibule of the church and slip bouquets into his 
hands, and they w^ould have him bend down while they placed flowers in a button- 
hole of his coat, and they always received some tender word or sweet smile, and 
seemed so happy, but not more so than he. 

" In his conversation, as in his writings, there was no affectation, no parade 
of learning, for everything was natural and simple, often mirthful, but never 
coarse. He wielded the shafts of wit and humor, but without inflicting pain. I 
never heard an unkind or bitter word fall from his lips. He was slow and hesita- 
ting in conversation, and the first impression, on hearing him talk, might be one of 
disappointment, but one soon felt the irresistible fascination of his speech. He 
would often hesitate for a word. He told me that he wrote his manuscripts in 
the same hesitating way, as it were, with continual corrections ; and even after the 
proof sheets were sent to him, he would still alter and interline, but only to insure 
a clearer perception of his thought. 

" ' Now,' said he to me, after he had sent off the last sheet of his final work — 
his Life of Washington — a work which had engaged his thoughts and pen for 
years, ' now I feel as if I were just ready to sit down and begin to write the life of 
Washington.' " 

" Mr. Spencer," I said, " did I understand you to say a moment ago that you 
never heard Irving say an unkind or bitter word ? " 

" Yes," he replied, " the nearest state to ill temper I ever saw in him was 
while he recited an incident to me which he did not allow to be mentioned in his 
Life and Letters, concerning his mission as Minister to Spain. It was during his 
official career, when James Buchanan was Secretary of State, that the attitude of 
our Government toward Mexico threatened to involve us in serious complications 
with Spain. The Spanish Government was alarmed and continually plied Irving 
with questions as to the intention of our government. 

" 'I wrote to Secretary Buchanan,' said Irving, ' a full account of the state 
of feeling, but received no answer. I wrote again and again, but the Secretary of 
State did not even deign a reply. I stood, a mortified representative of my country 
before that proud and sensitive court, and when I returned home, I had to go to 
Washington, hunt up the letters I had written to Mr. Buchanan, and place them 
myself on record as a part of the history of my mission.' 

*' You may imagine the eft'ect of such treatment upon a refined and sensitive 
nature like that of Irving. In the expression of his face, and the tone of his voice 
in relating the incident, I discovered that which I had never seen in him before, 
the deepest indignation." 

I suggested to Dr. Spencer my surprise that no monument had been erected to 



38o THE SPEAKING OAK 

Irving in the family burial lot in Sleepy Hollow. Dr. Spencer said, " Irving told 
me that he wisiied after death no other monument over his grave than such a 
simple headstone as marked the graves of others of his family. ' Those old black 
oaks, waving their requiem over me, with old Sleepy Hollow Church in the fore- 
ground, will be a sufficient monument.' " 

Mr. Irving gave Dr. Spencer a set of his miscellaneous works, with this 
inscription in the first volume, written with his own hand : 

" To the Rev. J. Sheldon Spencer 

in testimony of the affectionate regard of his parishioner, 

Washington Irving, 

Sunnyside, Nov. 5, 1858." 

The great author also gave his pastor a copy of his Life of Washington, 
writing in the first volume : 

" To the Rev. J. Sheldon Spencer, 
in grateful acknowledgment of the profit and satisfaction derived from 

his ministry, by 
Washington Irving, 

Sunnyside, Nov. 5, 1858." 

I asked the venerable pastor how long he had served the Church in Tarry- 
town. He answered, " I was rector of Christ's Church for forty-eight years. 
Two years ago I resigned, and was made rector emeritus. I shall never cease to be 
grateful for the honor, pleasure and profit of the acquaintance and intimate friend- 
ship of America's greatest author, Washington Irving." 

v» ^* ^* 

THE POWER OF MUSIC 



o 



RPHEUS was so skillful with his lyre as to move the trees and rocks, and 
charm the wild beasts of the forest that gathered about him to hear his 
melody. An incident is related by Mr. Hope, illustrating the power oi 
song over irrational creatures : " We were invited to take tea in the 
orchard. This occasion was memorable to me, chiefly for the evidence which it 
furnished of the wonderful faculty and power of a young girl, Penelope, to impress 
all who came within her reach. The place where we were invited to sit down and 
partake of the gratifications of the table was a beautiful knoll, rising some eighteen 
or twenty feet above the surrounding land. It was covered with most beautiful 
green grass, shaved close by the scythe, and was, as I have said, sheltered by 
the overhanging branches of thrifty old apple-trees. At its foot was a running 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 381 

spring coming out of the earth and gurgling away through the meadow to the 
creek, which, in its turn, emptied into a lake at the western side of the village. 

** This grass knoll was in the centre of a lot of a few acres which Mr. F. 
owned, and wherein on this present occasion were feeding his horse, which had 
been taken out of the stable ; a cow which Gerrit had lately purchased ; and 
the turkeys and chickens, among which were a beautiful pair of game-fowls, 
the male of which was a proud fellow clad in red feathers with a black breast and 
yellow legs, and who walked about as if he were ' monarch of all he surveyed.' 
In every branch of every tree overhanging us there seemed to be birds ; and 
when we had seated ourselves at the table, and Mr. F. had asked a blessing, 
and our repast had begun, the music of these birds was, beyond all expression, 
enchanting. The horse, which, when we first walked up the knoll was at the 
farthest end of the lot, came nearer, as if musing on the scene before him, till he 
stood within a rod of us; the cow wandered up to the edge of our little circle; 
the turkeys and chickens were all around us, with their cluck and gobble. And 
Penelope, the presiding genius of the repast, served us with inimitable grace, 
and appeared on this occasion to be as apt in the performance of the duties appro- 
priate to the hour, as she had in the morning shown herself able to perform her 
duties at the aviary. 

" At the conclusion of our supper, Penelope arose, and, walking away from 
us some twenty or thirty feet sat down on the grass and began to sing us ' a 
wee bit of a song ' such as she had sung in the morning, when the birds came 
down and alighted upon her. It seemed to have the most magical effect upon 
everything about us that had life; first upon the birds, then upon the horse, 
then upon the chickens, then upon the cow, then upon the turkeys, and lastly 
upon ourselves. 

" She was surrounded by a living mass of life ; the birds lighted upon her 
and sung ; the horse neighed ; the rooster crowed ; the cow lowed ; the turkey 
gobbled ; and we, first in amazement, then in delight, caught the spirit of her 
song, and laughed, and sat down on the ground, and for the once made our- 
selves the ' little children ' who are playing under the shade of some pine-tree, 
whose long, old branches hang down over the edges of some pebbly brook. I 
never can forget that day ; and though I am now an old man, and this girl has 
grown up, and is now one of the foremost women of the country in all that 
gives grace and glory and greatness to human character, she has in no relation 
of life ever impressed herself upon me in any direction, as she did in the mani- 
festation of her wonderful power over those animal organizations made by 
divine ordainment subject to man." 

The eye leads more directly to the intellect, the ear is the broad avenue 
to the heart of man. What strange magnetism there is in music! What 
witchery there is in the sound of a human voice! What sorrows have been 
soothed, what hopes inspired, what sacrifices for home and country have been 



382 THE SPEAKING OAK 

endured, what sublime acts of heroism have been performed under tlie inspi- 
ration of music ! Since the world began music has drawn human spirits to the 
heart of God. In the old and new dispensations, music and song have always 
been important parts of divine worship. Some of the musical masterpieces of 
the children of God, have charmed vast audiences, and almost great empires. 
Starr King has said: " Music is the universal language of the innermost spir- 
itual nature. It can be understood in its signs and its voice, by races and by 
grades of spirits that cannot understand each other's speech and that are alien- 
ated in all other ways. Yes, and all that we cultivate of its highest spirit in its 
great religious expressions here will go with us as preparation for eternity. 
We shall not talk German probably in the future world ; but I do not know 
why the Andante of the Fifth Symphony of Beethoven may not be played in 
heaven. The angelic masters must be inspired beyond our present capacity 
of appreciation if they can produce anything that will make that seem meagre. 
We shall slough off, probably, our English vocabulary and tongue in the grave ; 
but even in the final gathering of the redeeme'd out of every nation, tongue 
and clime, one strophe of the consummate Anthem to the Lamb, and through 
Him to the infinite who shall put all things under his feet, may be the Halle- 
lujah Chorus of the " Messiah," contributed from this earth to form part of the 
everlasting language of the skies." 



THE CONTRASTS OF THE TRAGEDY 



WHAT strange contrasts were connected with the tragedy which removed 
President McKinley ! It was President's Day at the Pan-American Ex- 
position at BuiTalo. The President, attended by members of his Cabinet 
and by distinguished men from every section of the land, in the largest 
gathering of the Fair, arose to make his speech. In doing so he stood upon the 
highest pinnacle of earthly greatness and pride, the object of the universal aiTection 
of his people, looking out upon a nation at the period of its greatest prosperity and 
happiness. His address, which was spoken to the people of our own country and 
of all lands, closed with the following words of peace on earth, good-will toward 
men : 

" Who can tell the new thoughts that have been awakened, the am.bitions 
fired, and the high achievements that will be wrought through this Exposition? 
Gentlemen: Let us ever remember that our interest is in accord, not conflict, 
and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war. We 
hope that all who are represented here may be moved to higher and nobler effort 
for their own and the world's good, and that out of this city may come, not 
only greater commerce and trade for us all, but. more essential than these, rela- 
tions of mutual respect, confidence and friendship which will deepen and endure. 



AND THREE HUNDRED OTHER TALES 383 

" Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happi- 
ness and peace to all our neighbors, and like blessings to all the peoples and 
powers of earth." 

At the reception on the day following, in an instant the great man fell from 
his pinnacle of pride, strength and happiness, and sank down wounded and 
fainting in a chair, helpless as the weakest child, and his sceptre of power slipped 
into the hand of another. What a contrast there was between the throne of 
power and the bed of languishing ! 

At the reception in the Temple of Music, he gave an expression of his faith 
in the people and his love for them; he came down close to them that he 
might look into their faces, and take their hands. His countenance showed that 
he had never willingly planted a thorn in any man's bosom; it was irradiated 
with the love he had for his fellow men, it wore that smile which his affectionate 
heart prompted, and in the very act of smiling upon and offering to take the 
hand of the young man who pretended to be his friend, the vile wretch, feigning 
to return the salutation, shot him down. The demon did not know the Presi- 
dent, had no personal grievance against him, had no complamt to make against 
him personally, only murdered him because he was our representative, and 
because he wanted to show his diabolical hatred of all authority, human and 
divine. Was there ever a crime deeper-dyed? What a contrast between the 
President's love and the criminal's hate! What a contrast between the divine 
benignity manifested in the character of the one, and the satanic malice expressed 
in that of the other ! It was the contrast between the brightness of heaven and 
the blackness of hell on earth. The assassin's bullet that entered the body of 
William McKinley, pierced the bosom of seventy-five million people. They were 
dazed at first by the shock, but the hope of the wounded man's recovery soon 
began to dawn, and their own wound began to heal. Skillful and faithful sur- 
geons did their part ; the sufferer's strong will and brave heart served him well, 
and positive pledges were given upon the best authority that the President would 
get well. People of all parties and all creeds, Protestant, Catholic, Hebrew, and 
even Pagan, had prayed for the restoration of the stricken man, and it was 
thought that it was God's will that he should be restored. The deepest grati- 
tude prevailed, praise services were announced and held, a happy nation went 
out in a burst of thanksgiving to God for having saved the life of their Chief. 
On the very day that the bulletin boards made the official announcement that 
Mr. McKinley would certainly recover, that every doubt on the subject had 
been removed, the same bulletin boards told the people of the nation that their 
President was dying. And there was such a wail of universal lamentation as 
this country never heard. What a contrast there was between the joy of a great 
nation at the hope of the restoration of their idol, and the awful sorrow occa- 
sioned by the news of his death ! 

Contrasts we find everywhere in the world about us, between the rose and 



384 THE SPEAKING OAK 

the noxious weed, the song--bircl and the hissing- serpent, tlie gentle zephyr and 
the terrible tornado, the sunshine and the shadow, the snow and the orchard in 
bloom, day and night. There are these same contrasts in human experience, 
there is the passing from weakness to strength, and from strength to weakness ; 
from humiliation to exaltation, and from exaltation to humiliation ; from failure 
to earthly success, and from success to failure ; the phases of mildness and sever- 
ity are alternately revealed in this mortal life of ours. These mutabilities, these 
contrasts when rightly employed, are intended to develop the noblest character, 
and secure ultimately the highest destiny. 

Wherever in this world there is beauty, there is homeliness to confront it ; 
wherever there is innocence, there is guilt to oppose it ; where there is love, there 
is hate with a hand raised against it; wherever there is purity, there is sin ready 
to murder it. The only perfect One who ever lived was betrayed by a kiss and 
sold to his death by a pretended friend. In the busy throng there are thousands 
of hands of treachery, hypocrisy and malice, holding a revolver covered by a 
handkerchief, ready to strike down their fellow men. A nation rejoicing one 
moment and crying the next, is a very good picture of the individual human 
heart, which is constantly passing to the highest altitudes of joy and descending 
into the lowest depths of sorrow. The One who said " that my joy might remain 
in you and that your joy might be full " also said " my soul is exceeding sor- 
rowful even unto death." 

But the contrasts of the awful tragedy which we have noticed are on the 
earthward side ; there are contrasts on the heavenward side which it is worth 
our while to consider. Looking through the thinly-woven veil we see that the 
man that sank fainting in the chair and lay languishing upon a bed of death 
has entered a realm of everlasting health and strength ; that he has been elevated 
to a throne of honor and power by the side of which all earthly potentates seem 
weak and small. The hand of wrath seemed only to open the door of the tomb 
at Canton, but in reality it opened the gateway of life through which the imperial 
soul of the great man flew away, from a world of toil and care and struggle and 
sin into a realm of rest and peace and purity ; away from the arms of the people of 
the nation that idolized him into the embraces of the spirits without fault before the 
throne of God. At the very time a nation was weeping for him, with harp in 
hand and angelic voice, he was singing the praises of his Redeemer in the 
highest, brighest heaven, " the song of Moses and the Lamb." It may be of 
advantage to the nation and to individuals to regard the contrasts on this side 
and especially those on the other side of the river of Death. 

When our loved ones go away from us, we weep for them as though they 
had gone to the grave, when, if we would look with spirit-eyes, we would dis- 
cover that they have arisen to the highest altitudes of glory and enjoyment, and 
are to be congratulated rather than commiserated upon their translation from 
earth. 



INDEX 



Absence, Meeting after thirty years of, 237. 

Accountability, 243. 

Achilles love for Iphigenia, 122. 

Advice to a son, 130; to young people, 161. 

^etes and Jason, 336; discourages Jason 
from seeking the Golden Fleece, 228. 

^?iLgina, the Queen, 242. 

Affection, Value of. 26 ; of General Harrison, 
gi ; of Washington Irving, 344 

Affliction, Ministry of, 45; hardened the 
heart, 256; softened the heart, 256. 

Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, 122. 

Age, Reverence for, 39. 

Agony, De Wet's terrible, 373. 

Aim in secular and spiritual life, 193. 

Aim, Taking, 193. 

Aircastles, 23, 133. 

Akbah stopped by the sea, 214. 

Albatross and the Ancient Mariner, 221. 

Albemarle, The, sunk, 43. 

Alexander and the Iliad, 319. 

Alfred the Great and the last loaf, 62; 
charity of, 62 ; fought while Ethelred 
prayed, 114; dying message to his son, 175. 

Alone in the world, 373. 

Alps, Accident in the, 225, 243. 

Ambergris, 260. 

Ambition of youth, 23. 

American history, God in, 137. 

American poets. Purity of, 362. 

America's duty, 185. 

Ammunition, Securing, 254. 

Amusements, Questionable, 225. 

Anarchy, 312. 

Anger, 206. 

Anglo-Saxon sabbath, 169. 

Animals, Love for, 176, 200, 221 ; cruelty 
toward, 221 ; influence over, 281, 380; cloth- 
ing of, 285. 

Ant-hill and Solomon, 254. 

Ants turned into men, 242; the king and 
the, 254. 

Apostolic succession, 193 ; preaching, 193. 

Appearances. Deceptive, 271. 

Apple branch, blossom and fruit. 316. 

Argentine Republic and the Bible, 229. 



Argonauts conquer giants, 68. 

Artabanus wounds pride of Xerxes, 226. 

Artemis, Image of, seized, 79. 

Artists, 139. 

Ary Scheffer's "Christus Consolator," 288. 

Ashburton. Lord. 116. 

Ashton, Mary, 48. 

Atheist converted by death of wife, 45; 

silenced by Chief Justice Marshall, 163; 

converted by his own writings. 351. 
Atlantic cable, Difficulties in laying the, 127. 
Atonement, 28, 32, 217. 243. 305, 338. 
Australian Commonwealth. The, 185. 
Avarice destroyed manhood, 92; danger of, 

213. 
Backsliding, 294. 

Bad life forsaken. 19; book, power of a, 27. 
Balm of Gilead, 228. 
Balmoral, Victoria at, 85. 
Barnado, Dr., 88. 
Bar of gold. The fatal, 213. 
Baroda, India, Famine victims in, 308. 
Barriers to progress, 67. 
Battleship Maine, Young converts on, 98. 
Beams over the path, 33. 
Beauties of nature. 152. 
Beautiful, The, 182. 
Beauty and glory out of the destruction of 

death. 273. 
Bed, Tin roof for a, 88. 
Bede, Adam, 233. 
Beecher, his farm at Peekskill, 152; fondness 

for nature, 182 ; early sermons of, 193 ; 

learned how to take aim, 193 ; as a mission- 
ary. 303 ; lived in the saddle, 303. 
Beginnings of evil, 25. 
Belief and Science. 87 ; in the incredible, 220-; 

honesty of. does not determine truth, 268. 
Bell-man, The. who died at his post. 275. 
Benevolence, 55. 168. 262, 293, 316, 335 ; 

reward of, 62 ; delayed, 154 ; profit of, 202 ; 

good policy of. 202. 
Benevolent ministers, 124. 
Besieged in Pekin saved by prayer. 261. 
Bible, The. relation to civic and social life, 

74; President Roosevelt's address upon, 74; 



385 



INDEX 



Lincoln's knowledge of, 75; method of Brotherhood of man, 30, 317; of the race, by 

studying, 76; influence on literature, ^^, fatherhood of God, 119. 

210; class taught by a queen, 96; Professor Brotherly love, 79. 

Huxley on, loi ; children and, loi, 218, Browning's love for his mother, 275; reli- 

244; influence on national life, 102, 218; gious faith, 275. 

and the public schools, 102, 229; basis of Bryan, W. J., tribute to McKinley, 323. 

best learning, 102; as an intellectual inspi- Building character, 161. 

ration, 134; and the home, 134, 229; cross, Bulls, Taming the brazen, 228. 

and home, 152; art and the, 210; stories of a Burdens that give strength to the bearer, 180. 

modern novelist suggested by, 210; literary Burdett Coutts, Lady, 50. 

value of, 210; Dr. Talmage's belief in, 215; Burglar converted, 19. 

Grant on, 218; open at McKinley's inaugu- Burial of the bones of a king killed two 

ral, 224; a South American statesman on, thousand years ago, 186. 

229; the Argentine Republic and, 229: the Buried talent, 86. 

guide of life, 231 ; cure for ills of society. Burns' influence on Whittier, 300; poems of, 



321; Stonewall Jackson and, 329; the food 
of the soul, 329; in the hand, Christ in the 
heart, 356. 

Bird of paradise, 174; vanity of, 174. 

Birds, Capital punishment among, 243 ; influ- 
ence over, 281 ; care for their feathers, 285. 

Birth of Christ, 298; world stopped still at, 
298. 

Bismarck's religion, 324. 

Blind man who saw, 80; chaplain, 208. 

Blindness, Physical, moral, and spiritual, 81 ; 
Christ cures spiritual, 208. 

Blood of Christ, 28. 

Blue, The, and the Gray, 366. 

Boer, The, who escaped from prison, 342; 
general reads the burial service, 356; black 
angel of the, 373. 

Bombarded the heavens for rain, 247. 

Bones of a king killed a thousand years ago, 
186. 

Books. Influence of, 27, 300, 



300. 
Cable, Laying the, 127; first message over 

the, 30. 
Cadman, Dr. S., Narrow escape of, 252. 
Caine, Hall, and the Bible, 210. 
Calamity, 207. 
Calling in life, Selection of, 18; every man 

has his, 250. 
Calvin, John, still lives, 150. 
Cannibals and the missionaries, 142. 
Capital and labor, 135. 
Care for the bodies of saints, 186; for the 

afflicted, 241. 
Careless expression. Danger of a, 189. 
Carelessness, 304, 328. 
Carlyle, and Lord Ashburton, 116; story 

about Franklin, 340. 
Carnegie's gift to his workingmen, 135. 
Cat, Fable of the, 93. 
Catholics and Edmund the martyr, 186. 
Ceres, 287. 
Chancellorsville, Battle of, 255. 



Boy, Brave Chinese, 94; saves enemy from Character, Importance of, 75; building of. 



drowning, 113; ran away from home, 173; 
could see nothing but flowers, 265 ; saved 
by his father, 301. 
Boys, Injury to, 299; rescued, 357; ruined, 

357. 
Boxed the trainboy's ears, 299. 
Boxers aided by Chinese government, 106; 

the uprising of, 138, 223, 250, 261. 275, 338; 

the Empress Dowager and the, 138; spirit 

that disarmed the. 199. 
Bradley, Colonel, 254. 
Bravery, 68, 254. 272 : of a boy. 94 ; in face of 

the enemy, 148; secures freedom. 150; of 

American sailors and soldiers. 203. 
Brazen bulls. The taming of, 228. 
Bridge of life. 330. 

Broken cable did not discourage him. 127. 
Brother, Killed by his, 131; murders his, 

206; lost, 243. 



161; foundation of, 317; credit and, 341; 
earthly success and, 341. 

Charitable estimates, 146. 

Charity, 262, 293. 335 ; rewarded with a 
crown, 62; of Frederick HI., 259. 

Child saved by flagman, 32 ; found by Gen- 
eral Grant, 52 ; kidnapped. 357. 

Childhood, Relation of, to state, 97; and the 
Bible, 244; susceptibility of, 244; books, 
300 ; literary models. 300. 

Children. Love for, 20; disloyalty of, 39. 
195; ingratitude of, 39; true to parents, 
41; in heaven, 42; Christ's love for. 52; 
Bible instruction of. 96; conversion of. 
119: education of, and the Bible. 229; the 
prince and the. 236; proper religious in- 
struction of. 292 ; books for, 301 ; perishing 
in India, 308. 

Children's Home, Christian Herald, 353. 



386 



INDEX 



China at war with the world, io6 ; makes ex- 
piation for death of Baron von Ketteler, 338. 

Chinese boy, A brave, 94. 

Choice of Hercules, 34. 

Christ will tell where to go, 18 ; can save the 
worst, 19, 104 ; the hope of heaven, 22 ; re- 
forms, 47; what a crippled child did for, 
48; love for, constant. 51; cross of, 52; 
now is the time to seek, 99 ; the only cure 
for sorrow, 116; cure for troubles of the 
world, 119; omnipresent, 150; faith in, 188; 
will fight our battles, 189 ; suffers for us, 
192; sets us free, 193; cures spiritual blind- 
ness, 209; the image of Jesus, 247; in the 
heart, 249, 250 ; suffering for, 253 ; de- 
stroyed death, 274 ; the magnet, 283 ; a 
garment to be worn, 286; the consolation 
of the world, 288; the want of man, 288; 
a brother at the last day, 298; faith in, 
324 ; the soul's protection, 329 ; cures re- 
venge, 355; complement of every man, 360; 
completion of the soul, 360. 

Christian burial, 186; unity, 194; heroism, 
250 ; motherhood, 275, 287 ; graces, 352. 

Christian Endeavor Society, 161. 

Christian Herald gospel hall, 55 ; children's 
home, 353. 

Christianity friendlj' to liberty of the com- 
mon people, 154; good work and, 227; pa- 
triotism and, 286 ; the nation and, 324 ; 
psychology and, 351 ; confirmed by science, 

Christian missionary saved by death of a 
heathen chief, 142 ; nations are healthy and 
wealthy, 341. 

Christians, McKinley's advice to young, 161 ; 
pagans pray for, 238. 

Christlikeness, y^- 

Christ's comfort in affliction, 42; cross, 149; 
kingdom, universal spread of, 214; blood, 
228 ; love cures spiritually insane, 242 ; 
atonement, 305. 

"Christus Consolator." 288. 

Church attendance. Preparation for, 49 ; state 
separation of, 115; fairs and festivals, gam- 
bling at, 206. 

Church services. Proper preparation for, 49. 

Cigarette habit. The dangerous, 302. 

Civilization, Dress the expression of, 285. 

Cleveland, Grover, estimate of Wm. McKin- 
ley, 25 ; religion, 258. 

Clothing for the body and soul. 285. 

Cockrell's, Senator, magnanimity, 1 16. 

Comforts of Christian religion in the dying 
hour, 22. 

Common people, Peter Cooper's love for, 
168; sympathy of, 199. 



Commonwealth, Australian, 185. 

Compensation, 61. 

Complaints at God's providence, 140. 

Conductor boxed boy's ears, 299. 

Confucianism, 238. 

Conjugal devotion, 134. 

Conqueror stopped by the sea, 214. 

Consolations of the Holy Spirit, 295. 

Constancy, Genuine, 50, 62. 

Constitution, God in the, 115; of the United 

States, 244. 
Contrasts, earthward and heavenward, 382; 
of the tragedy, 382; in nature and human 
experience, 384. 
Conversion of children, 119. 
Converted, A professional burglar, 19; in his 
cell, 103 ; at a meeting, 207 ; by a word in 
season, 237; by his roommate, 237; leader 
of a murderous mob, 290. 
Converts, Young, 98. 
Convict, Heroism of a, 150. 
Conviction by apostolic preaching, 193; for 

sin, 290. 
Conwell, Dr. Russell, Practical benevolence 

of, 124. 
Cooper, Peter, the inventor, 102 ; remarks 
at opening of Union, 168; his first ten 
dollars, 205. 
Cooper Union, 168, 191. 
Cordelia, 40, 196, 197. 
Corinna, who forgave the murder of her 

father, 354. 
Corporal, The, and the scorpion, 64 . 
Country, Woman's love for her, 122 ; the man 
without a, 312; cursed by a man, 312; love 
of, 347- 
Courage, Importance of, 76; of a boy, 94; in 
securing an education, 156; on battleship, 
272. 
Courtship, Noble and ignoble, 197. 
Cracking of St. Paul's Cathedral, 317. 
Craven, Commander, heroism of, 305. 
Credit, Financial, and character, 341. 
Criminal, A converted, 19. 
Crippled girl. Work of, for Christ and mis- 
sions, 48. 
Critics inferior to those criticised, 272. 
Cross, Knight of the red, 22; of great men, 

324. 
Cross of Christ, 149, 217. 
Crown for soldier of the Cross, 268. 
Crown jewels, 352. 
Crown of life. 268. 

Crown Prince romps with his children, 236. 
Cruelty to animals, 221. 
Cuba, God in Constitution of, 115; Republic 
of, 369. 



387 



INDEX 



Cursed his country, 312. 

Gushing, Lieut., sinks the Albemarle, 43 

Cuyler, Dr., declines a monument, 57. 

Damage of a bad book, 27; to character, 317; 
done by a fast young man, 318. 

Danger of camp life, 65 ; of evil passions, 
96; of letting the light go out, 96; of ava- 
rice, 213; of going too near the edge of 
wrong, 225. 

Darling, Penelope, and the birds, 281. 

Daughter of the Speaking Oak, 17. 

Daughters, Undutiful, 39, 195; love for a 
father, 123. 

Davis, Judge, and Lincoln, 190, 306; will of, 
306. 

Dead, Care for the, 322 ; still with us, 366. 

Deafness caused by a blow, 299. 

Death causes loneliness, 20; flagman crushed 
to, 32 ; of wife, 45 ; sudden, 82 ; from the 
light going out, 96; prevents charities, 154; 
in delay, 155; of Dr- Graef, 209; from 
cruelty, 222; in the Alps, 225, 243; of 
Wang Cheng Pei, 236 ; conquered, 273 ; the 
knight who slew death, 273; not to be 
dreaded, 275 ; Lincoln pardons a soldier 
condemned to, 277; an intruder, 320; pre- 
pared for, 320; gates of, 330; of General 
Joubert, 357; a good man's coronation, 
384 ; the gateway of life, 384. 

Death-bed repentance, 132; message, 175. 

Decoration Day, 239. 

Decorations of honor, 184. 

Democratic form of government, 154. 

Despotism overthrown, 369. 

Determination, 370. 

De Wet, Adolph, escapes from a British 
prison, 342 ; wounded five times, 343. 

De Wet, General, the black angel of the 
Boers, 373 ; awful agony of, 374 ; revenge 
of, 374; imperial will of, 375. 

Died that another might live, 305 ; at a wed- 
ding, 320; with a Bible in his hand, 357. 

Dig. The necessity to, 141. 

Divine Providence, 17, 224; love and pardon, 
112; grace, 186; pardon, 278; comfort in 
affliction, 295. 

Divinity of Christ, Napoleon's faith in, 100. 

Dodona, Speaking Oak of, 17. 

Dog, Statue of a faithful, 50; heroism of a 
St. Bernard, 302. 

Door of a kingdom opened by a brother, 298. 

Dragon's teeth, Sowing the, 336. 

Dress, 285. 

Dressed for the King's palace, 250. 

Drink, The danger of, 319: 355- 

Drowned, Two little boys, 147. 

Drowning, Boy saves his enemy from, 113; 



saved his own son from, 301 ; man saved 
by a dog, 302. 
Drummer boy beats a rally, 213. 

Dry-goods clerk, Immortal work of, 38. 
Dudes, 174. 

Duke of Burgundy, 197. 
Dutiful daughters, 40. 

Duty before affection, 303 ; Holy Spirit 
guides in, 303. 

Dying soldier asks for a song, 60; son and 
his mother, 288 ; colonel and the flag, 347. 

Eagle and cat, Fable of, 93; frozen to the 
ground, 220. 

Early ambitions, 133 ; impressions, value of, 
244; childhood of Charles Spurgeon, 292; 
ministry of Henry Ward Beecher, 303. 

Earthly failure often brings spiritual suc- 
cess, loi ; immortality, 150, 219; music in 
heaven, 382. 

Ecumenical missionary conference, McKin- 
ley's address at, 117. 

Edinburgh, Drinking fountain in, 50. 

Edison, Thomas, finds God in nature, 87; 
snags and success, 257; turns the joke on 
the jokers, 271 ; poor and shabbily dressed, 
271 ; first appearance of, in Boston, 271 ; on 
persistency, 289; the train boy, 299; made 
deaf by a cuff on the ear, 299 ; invents the 
phonograph, 320; on hard work, 337. 

Edmund the Martyr, 186. 

Edmunds, Senator, devotion to his daughter, 
91. 

Education, 168, 360. 

Effort, Persistent, 289. 

Elgin, Wreck of the, 364. 

Emancipation and Lincoln, 85. 

Emperor William, Address to a Y. M. C. A. 
Convention, 194; address to students of 
Germany, 286. 

Encouragement, 360. 

Enemy saved from drowning, 113. 

Engineer wrecks train, 304. 

England, Greatness of, 37. 

Enterprise, 156. 

Envy, 187. 

Epworth League, 161. 

Escape for life, 155; from danger, 252; from 
imprisonment, .342. 

Eternal reward, 61 ; ruin, 305. 

Evangelical singing, 69. 

Evangelists, Valuable. 247; useless, 247. 

Evil passions. Danger of, 96 : prefers dark- 
ness, 96; influence, fatal powers of, 225. 

Execution of Maximilian, 249. 

Expiation, 338. 

Eyes burned out with lime, 135; keen, 139. 

Fable of the eagle and cat, 93. 



INDEX 



Face, The great stone, 69. 
Faith in Christ saves the worst sinner, 19; 
in Providence. 63, 128, 252; and works, 
114: in the Christian religion, 217, 258; 
in God, 275 ; in immortahty, 275 ; in New 
Testament, 304- 

Faithful ministry, 57; chaplain, the, 103 ; at 
his post, 129; soldier, the, 129. 

Farmer who was truly great, "]},. 

Farming, Moral influence of, 164. 

Farragut, The boy, 272. 

Fast young man. A, 318. 

Father despised by his daughters, 39; pleads 
for life of son, 112; daughter's love for, 
122; advice to his son, 130; joy at re- 
turn of a runaway boy, 173; saves a son, 
301. 

Fatherhood of God, 318. 

Fault, It was all my, 304. 

Favor granted to enemy, 240. 

Fear of criticism, 121. 

Field, Cryus W., 127. 

Fighting and praying. 114. 

Financial ruin from bad habits, 318, 

Fingers blown off, 302. 

Finished, It is, 22)2,- 

Flag and the saloon, 153 ; the dying colonel 
and the, 347. 

Flagman killed saving a child, z^- 

Flower that saved a man's life, 328. 

Flowers, God's voice in, 47 ; that bloom in the 
night, 160 ; scattering, on soldiers' graves, 
239 ; the boy who could see nothing but, 
265. 

Forgetfulness, 304. 

Forgiveness, Divine, 340. 

Fortune out of misfortune, 242, 

Foundation of character, 317. 

Fountain pen, 310. 

Franklin and Lord Spencer, 93 ; fable about 
War of Revolution, 93 ; as a boy. 97 ; as a 
young man, 130; religion of. 172, 227; 
careless remark of, 189; swimming school 
of, 340. 

Frankness, 146. 

Frederick III.'s fondness for children, 236; 
heroism of, 259; charity of, 259; popularity 
of 260. 

Freedom earned through bravery, 150. 

Free library. An afternoon in a. 191. 

Fresh air home for children. 353. 

Friends who made Lincoln President, 306. 

Friendship, 20, 306; of Lee and Jackson, 59; 
undying, 78; of two young men, 79. 

Fulton, Robert, Neglected grave of, 322. 

Funeral, A tearless, 92. 

389 



Future life. Faith in, 172, 324. 

Galveston flood. 204, 311. 

Gambling for the benefit of the Church, 206; 

danger of, 319. 
Gamewell, Professor, at Pekin, loj, 236; 
thanked by England and the United States, 
109. 
Gates ajar, 29; of death, 330. 

Gates, Elmer, 289. 

General and drummer boy, 213 ; private sol- 
dier on the same level as, 105. 

General Grant and the lost child, 52. 

Genius not required to make an inventor, 
289; hard work of, ^tiT- 

German Emperor, Sermon and prayer of, 
158: message to Y. M. C. A., 194; on 
Christianity, 286. 

Giants with six arms, but one heart, 68; 
conquered by the Grecian heroes, 68. 

Girl's love for Christ, 221. 

Gives life for her country, 122. 

Gladstone, Letter of, to Mrs. Spurgeon, 317. 

God seen in nature, 47, 87, 182; doing the 
will of, 75, 310; the nation's guide, 115; 
in the Constitution of Cuba, 115, 215; in 
American history, 137; seeing, 140; an- 
swers prayer, 261 ; the food of the soul, 329. 

God's power necessary for victory, 68; call 
to greatness, 133 ; joy at a sinner's return, 
174; hatred of pride, 226; care and love for 
His children, 227; love for the afflicted, 
242. 

Godliness, T^- 

Gold, Two Irishmen who found, 129; fatal 
bar of, 213. 

Golden fleece. The, 17. 

Goneril and Regan, 39, 195. 

Good deeds delayed too long, 154, 

Gospel and the soul, 319. 

Gould, Miss Helen, 160; on the stewardship 
of wealth, 335. 

Government over the people, 254. 

Grandparents, Influence of, 292. 

Grant finds a lost child, 52; youthful proph- 
ecy of, 133; conjugal fidelity of. 134; on 
the Bible, 218; story of the colt, 250. 

Gratitude, 57; tangible, 55; to Christ, 61; 
official, 109. 

Grave watched by a dog, 50. 

Graves, Thirteen in a row on ocean shore, 
209; of the mountain, the twin, 217. 

Great and small needed to fight moral evil, 
213; results from small instrumentalities, 
243- 

Greatness, God's call to, 133 ; real, 175, 

Greene, Capt., and Lincoln. 293. 

Grieving over mistakes. Folly of, 348. 



INDEX 



Grimesville, The woman from, 199. 
Habits, Danger of evil, 318. 
Happiness. Result of moral purity, 316. 
Harrison, General, and his little daughter, 
20: affections of, 91, 276; on the brother- 
hood of the race, 119; as an orator, 159; 
Industry of, 201, as a lawyer, 235; incor- 
ruptibility of, 315; a model church mem- 
ber. 321 ; as a Christian, 321. 

Hate, 206; cured by love, 354- 

Hawthorne's "Great Stone Face," 69. 

Head, Haughty, strikes the beam, 33. 
Heart. The, importance of, 20; education of, 
20 ; graven on the tablet of the. 57 ; a new, 
68; a sound, 80; kindness of. 215; generos- 
ity of, 216; broken by hammer of afflic- 
tion, 256. 

Heathen chief dies for a Christian mis- 
sionary, 142 ; pray for Mrs. McKinley, 
238; admiration for Christ, 359. 

Heaven. 295 ; gate of, 29 ; near to earth. 29 ; 
children in. 42; seen by dying soldier, 61; 
prepared for, 83; prospect of, 83; seeing, 
140 ; mother in, 288 ; opened by elder 
brother 298; loved ones in, 310. 

Helping the poor, 180; the weak, 180; others 
as we help ourselves, 180. 

Hercules, Choice of, 34. 

Hereditary traits, 337. 

Hero. Modesty of, 109 ; with his face to the 
foe. 254 ; honored. 266. 

Heroic deed rewarded, 61 ; care for insane 
relatives, 241 ; young man, 364. 

Heroism, 32, 43, 48, 113, 148, 203, 254, 272, 
305 ; Christian, 43 ; of a Chinese boy, 94 ; of 
a convict, 150; in an humble man, 275; of a 
dog, 302. 

Hindoo admiration for Christ. 359; girl suf- 
fered for Christ, what a, 253. 

Hindrances, 257. 

Holy Spirit, Consolation of, 42, 200; gives 
light and guidance, 303. 

Home, Boy runs away from, 173; Bible in- 
struction at, 134; and the Bible, 229. 

Honesty. 283. 3I5- 

Honor for soldier of the Cross, 268; in finan- 
cial ruin, 318. 

House of Correction, 47. 

Howard, John, 192. 

Hudson, Thomas Jay, becomes a Christian, 

351- 
Human purpose inspired by Divine will. 128; 

sympathy, 147; butterflies. 175; will power. 

328; will, in harmony with Divine will, 

328. 
Humble worth, 73. 
Humility, 184; of a queen, 123. 



Husband's devotion to wife, 134; 241, 249, 

294. 
Huxley, Professor, and the Bible. loi ; the 

boy, failed in his examinations, 348. 
Hypocrisy, 195. 
Hypocrites, 251. 
"I could love him," 359. 
Ideal man. The, 74. 
Idleness and vice, 34. 
Idols forbidden by Numa, 164. 
Iliad and Alexander, The, 319. 
Immortality, 29; earthly, 150, 219; Franklin 

on, 172. 
Inaugural address of McKinley, 224. 
Increasing by scattering, 202. 
Incredible, The, often true, 220. 
India, Famine in, 55. 308. 
Indians, Faith of, in Divine Providence, 274; 

shot at Washington, 274. 
Industry, 156, 201, 327; and idleness, 34; and 
virtue, 34 ; and integrity, 75, 283 ; persist- 
ent, 129, 248. 
Influence of Bible on English literature, 102; 
unconscious, 118, 269; of mother, 183; im- 
mortality of, 269; of Christian mothers, 
287; of Burns over Whittier, 300; inten- 
tional and unintentional, 320. 
Influence, Unconscious, 118. 
Insane, Heroic care for, 241. 
Insanity of wrath, 337. 
Inventor of telegraph, Divine help of, 30; 

a religious, 83. 
Invisible, Seeing the, 81. 
lolchos. Throne of, usurped by Pelias, 17. 
Iphigenia returns with Orestes to Greece, 

79; dies for her country, 122. 
Irish miners who found silver and gold, 129. 
Irving, Washington, visits a sick friend, 219; 
entertained by neighbor, 219; lives in lit- 
erature, and lives of the people, 220; seeks 
communication with spirit of dead friend, 
220 ; and the old nurse at "Sunnnyside.'' 
344 ; Scott's appreciation of. 345 ; pathos of, 
345 ; wit of, 345 ; affection of, 345 ; Byron's 
appreciation of, 345 ; unpublished chapter 
in life of, 375: pastor of, 375; religion of, 
376; as a Christian worker, 376; and Pres- 
ident Buchanan, 379. 
Islands of Paradise. 330. 
Italian Girl's Revenge, 354. 
"It is finished." 233. 
"It was all my fault ; I forgot." 304. 
Jackson. Stonewall, love for Lee, 59; faith 
in Providence, 63; origin of name, 120; and 
drummer boy. 213 ; democratic spirit of, 
330; declines invitation to dinner, 330; his 
love for his men, 330; his respect for the 



390 



INDEX 



Sabbath, 330 ; reading Bible in camp, 330 ; at 

dinner in camp, 330; his faith in God, 330. 
James, Professor, Heroic death of, 223. 
Japanese student, Triumphant death of a, 

295. 
Jason seeks his crown, 17; consults the gods, 

17; taming the brazen bulls, 228; the drag- 
on's teeth, 336. 
Jealousy, 187. 

Jeanette, The Scotch girl, 221. 
Jesus the king, 2>7'> Jesus' blood, 217; the 

gospel of, 304. 
Joubert, Piety of, 356; reads burial service 

over enemy's dead, 357. 
Journeyman printer tells how he first met 

Lincoln, 293. 
Joy of father at return of boy, 173. 
Keen eyes, 139. 

Ketteler, Death of Baron von, 338. 
Kidnapped child, 357. 
Killed by his brother, 131 ; herself through 

vanity, 226; through his own neglect, 304. 
Kind words, 360. 
Kindness, 176; of heart, 294. 
King Alfred's faith in Providence, 62; last 

message, 175. 
King devotes himself to religion, 164 ; waited 

for divine command. 165 ; a faithful lover, 

197; dressed for the palace of the, 250; 

and the ant hill, 254. 
King Lear, 39, 40, 195, I97- 
Klopsch. Dr., estimate of Talmage, 215; 

among starving in India, 308. 
Knight of the Red Cross, 22; who slew 

Death, The, 273. 
Knowledge of God, The end of true learning, 

192. 
Kroonspruit, Battle of, 2i73- 
Labor, 283 ; Sir Walter Scott on, 201. 
Ladysmith, Water supply of, 95. 
Last Day, Records of, 321. 
Last opportunity. The, 98. 
Law and order. Enforcement of, 1 10. 
Lawyer, Benjamin Harrison as a, 235. 
Lee, Friendship with Jackson, 59 ; at a prayer 

meeting, 104 ; letter to his son, 145 ; faith 

in Christ, 188; big-hearted General, 234; 

helps a northern soldier, 234. 
Legend of the Rhine, 189. 
Leprosy welcomed out of love for a hus- 
band, 24. 
Liberty, 369; by obedience to law, 150. 
Library. An afternoon in a free, 191. 
Life saving service, 209. 
Life, Uncertainty of. 82 : saving, 87, 301, 

302, 311, 364; a loving, 221 ; saved his own, 

243; mimicry of, 251. 



Light, Danger of letting, go out, 96. 

Li Hung Chang, Prayer for, 238. 

Lincoln the lawyer acts as pastor, 21 ; com- 
forts a dying woman, 21 ; playful spirit of, 
84; helps the little negro girl, 84; his 
friend Gray, 84; pardons a condemned sol- 
dier, III; his mercy, 112; gladdens a 
father's heart, 112; kindness to a young 
man, 149; his pet pig, 176; kindness of 
heart, 176, 293 ; nominates himself for the 
Presidency, 190; compared with Yao, 223; 
kindness to Confederate soldier, 231 ; re- 
gard for the Bible, 231; magnanimity, 240; 
letter to mother who lost five sons in bat- 
tle, 264; pardons Scott, 277; the journey- 
man printer, 293 ; befriends a poor boy, 
293 ; friends, 306 ; story of lost ox, 2-7 J 
strength of will, 2^7 ; faith in God, 365; 
sympathy for soldiers, 365. 

Lineman, Story of a, 328. 

Linnaeus, Discouragement and success of, 
265. 

Little things, Result of, 243 ; importance of, 
320. 

Locomotive, The first, 102. 

Loneliness, 20. 

Looking forward. Necessity of, 294 ; back- 
ward, danger of, 294. 

Lord's supper, The, 83. 

Lothbroc and Beorn, 187. 

Lottery, Vice of the, 205. 

Lotus-flower, Origin of, 309. 

Love, 59, 221 ; between wife and husband, 24, 
134, 241; constant, 50; for Christ, 51, 221, 
359; for children, 52; fellow men, 112; for 
an enemy, 113, 240; of a sister, 151, 241; 
for animals, 176, 200, 221, 281 ; of parents, 
for a daughter, 241 ; influence on men, 281 ; 
power of, 328 ; for the family, 345 ; for a 
mother, 346. 

Lover's locket, The, 221. 

Loyalty to the government, 234 ; to the coun- 
try, 312. 

Lying, 146. 

Lynceus, the sharp-eyed, 139. 

Lynching, 290. 

Macedonian student goes through Yale by 
running a trolley car. 156. 

Magnanimity. 59, 240; in politics, reward of, 
116; of General Cockrell, 116; General 
Lee's, 234. 

Magnasco, Dr., of Argentine, 229. 

Magnetism, Human. 281 ; divine, 283. 

Maiden. A beautiful, 217. 

Maidens, Influence of aged, 293. 

Malice. 206. 

Manhood, 68. 



391 



INDEX 



Man overcomes evil by Divine power, 23 ; 

scatters flowers over soldiers' graves, 239; 
without a country, 312. 

Alarden, Dr., on "Character and Credit," 341. 

Mariner, The ancient, and the albatross, 221. 

Marrying money and position, 197 ; worth, 
197. 

Marshall, Chief Justice, 163; love of, for 
wife, 366. 

Martyrdom, 250. 

Martyrs, 44. 

Mastery in service, 181. 

Material preferred to spiritual, 261. 

Maximilian's love for his wife, 249; execu- 
tion, 249. 

Maynard, Horace, 51. 

McKinley, Mrs., and the old fashioned 
flowers, 199; prayer for, 238. 

McKinley, William, private and public trib- 
ute to, 25, 199; missionary address of, 
117; on Washington's religion, 137; his 
advice to young Christians, 161 ; on Divine 
providence, 224 ; the boy officer, 262 ; a 
religious officer, 262; integrity and indus- 
try of, 283 ; Colonel Bradley's interview 
with, 283; Christianity the secret of his 
popularity, 298 ; funeral, 298 ; tribute to, 
323 ; message of love to the South, 366 ; 
assassination of, 382. 

McCosh, Dr. James, and Lord Ashburton, 
116. 

Medal awarded for saving life, 88; for brav- 
ery, 113. 

Medea teaches Jason how to tame the bra- 
zen bulls, 228; helps Jason, 336. 

Meditation before attending church, 49. 

Meeting after thirty years of absence, 237. 

Memorial of a princely charity, 55. 

Mental vision, 81. 

Midnight of affliction, l6l. 

Midshipman, Thirteen years old, 272. 

Milburn, Blind chaplain, 208. 

Miles, General, discourages drink, 355. 

Mimicry of life. The, 251. 

Miner, Story of a, 154; narrow escape of a, 
252. 

Miners who found gold, 129; story of, 217. 

Minister who lived his sermon, 124. 

Ministry, The, college education for, 346; 
spiritual power for, 347. 

Mirror in the window. The, 152. 

Mirza, The vision of, 330. 

Miser, 86. 

Misery, Vale of, 330. 

Misfortune, The fortune of, 82 ; discipline 
of, lOI. 

Missionaries, Heroism of, 44; sacrifice of, 117. 



Missionary, Heroism of, 105 ; address by 
McKinley, 117; the cannibals and, 142; 
conquest, 214; in Indiana, 303. 

Missions, 48; their relation to civilization 
and the world's evangelization, 117. 

Mob law, 290. 

Modest worth. Appreciation of, 344. 

Money and position, marrying for, 197. 

Monuments, 57, 322. 

Moody and his brother George, 297. 

Moral heroism of Theodore Roosevelt, no. 

Moral spiritual training, 76 ; vision, 81 ; cour- 
age, no; danger, 225. 

Morse, Professor, 29; aided by Congress, 30; 
as a Christian, 83; humility of, 184; hon- 
ored, 184. 

Mother, Influence of a, 183, 214, 258, 275 ; of 
Queen Victoria, 183 ; of T. Estrada Palma, 
214; religious instruction of, 214; debt of 
gratitude to, 214; religion of a, 258; Lin- 
coln's letter to a bereaved, 264; saved 
child in Galveston flood, 311; love of a, 
346. 

Motherhood, Christian, 287. 

Mountain hind receives the stroke, 28. 

Murder, 187, 206, 290; rum as the cause of, 
131. 

Murderer, Influence of Robert Ingersoll's 
book, 27. 

Music, Power of, 380; over animals, 380; 
over men, 381. 

Napoleon, I., on religion, 99; faith in the 
Bible, 99; faith in divinity of Christ, 100; 
faith in salvation through death of Christ, 
100; his fall turned his heart to Christ, lOi ; 
his religious cowardice, 121. 

Napoleon III. in Mexico, 249. 

Nation, A religious, 185 ; a motionless, 298. 

National prosperity, 164; and the Bible, 218. 

Nature, God seen in, 87; Beecher's fondness 
for, 182. 

Naval Commander, Lost saving his men, 
203 ; heroism of, 305. 

Neglect, 304; of most valuable things in life, 
2t)i ; danger of, 328. 

Never mind, what next? 348. 

New Hebrides and Christian missions, 142. 

Nicotine, 302. 

Night blooming Cereus, 160. 

Nile River and the lotus flower, 309. 

Ninety-and-Nine, The song, 68. 

Noble and ignoble courtship, 197 ; and ig- 
noble nobleman, 197. 

Nomination of Lincoln for the Presidency, 
190. 

North and South united, 366. 

Numa and religious duty, 49; piety of, 164. 



392 



INDEX 



Nurse, Old, and Washington Irving, 344. 

Oak, The speaking, 17. 

Oblivion, Lessons of, 322. 

Obstacles overcome, 127, 271, 369; to religious 

progress, 266. 
Odell, Governor, Ability of, 248 ; industry of, 
248; rapid promotion of, 248; experience 
as a boy, 268. 
"Oh that I could have saved one more," 364. 
Ointment for the heart, 228. 
Old age, 296. 

Old man and his dead soldier boy, 239. 
Old man's hope of the future, 169. 
Old men compared, 92. 
Orator, A great, 159. 
Ordeal, A trying, 303. 
Ore, Gotten by digging, 141. 
Orestes and Pylades, Friendship of, 79. 
Orphans by India famine, Support of, 308. 
Orpheus, Story of, 294, 380. 
Ox, The lost, and Lincoln, 327. 
Pagans pray for Christians, 238. 
Palace of Prince Su, Refuge in, 223 ; 

dressed for the King's, 250. 
Palma, General T. Estrada, 369; mother of, 

214. 
Paradise, Islands of, 330; ten days in, 353. 
Pardon, Divine, 112. 

Parents, Aged and sick, 39; duty to, 39; 
cared for by children, 41 ; teaching chil- 
dren the Scriptures, 134 ; love of daughters, 
241. 
Park, Mungo, saved by a forget-me-not, 328. 
Partisanship, 323. 
Patient, continuous labor, 289. 
Paton, John G., Missionary work in the 

New Hebrides, 142. 
Patriotism, 323, 328, 347; religion and, 135, 

185. 
Peace, 30. 

Pekin, Siege of, 105. 
Pelias, 17. 

Penelope and the birds, 281. 
Penitent prisoner. The, 104. 
Pentecost, Dr. George F., and the young 

man, 269 ; the Hindoo and, 359. 
People, Vanity of, 174; a speechless and 

motionless, 298. 
Perished with thirst and exposure, 222. 
Permanency, 58; of evil deeds, 300. 
Persistency of effort, 141, 289, 375. 
Pet pig of Lincoln, 176; dogs of Queen Vic- 
toria, 200. 
Philosophers. 140. 
Phonograph, Origin of, 320. 
Physician, The young, and Lincoln 149. 
Piety of General Joubert, 356. 

393 



Pig, Lincoln and his pet, 176. 

Pioneer minister, 303. 

Place, Every man has his, "JZ- 

Plant twenty years old before flower came, 

160. 
Pleasures of this world, 227. 
Ploughboy, What a kind word did for a, 360. 
Pocket-handkerchief, The printing on the, 

244. 
Poets, Purity ef American, 362. 
Policeman, 204, saved his own son, 301. 
Politics and religion, 164, 262. 
Poor children in Sunday School, 96. 
Poor girl and her locket, 221 ; death of, 221. 
Poor, Giving to, 62; aided by minister, 124; 

sympathy for, 276. 
Poor man who was rich, 92. 
Poverty, Wealth in, 92. 
Power of sentiment, 276. 
Prayer, 158, 188, 222; for guidance, 17; of 
Lord Tennyson, 185; woman's, 199; in 
danger, 204; for the sick, 238; answered, 
261, 365 ; morning and evening, 2)^^• 
Praying and Fighting, 114. 
Prayer-meeting during battle, 104. 
Praying, mother, A, 131. 
Preacher, Dr. Talmage as a, 215 ; young man 

preaches to a, 269. 
Preaching, Apostolic, 193 ; the terrors of the 

law, 290. 
Preparation for church service, 49 ; for death 

236. 
Present duty, Attention to, 348. 
Pride before a fall, 226; God's hatred of, 

226. 
Prince, A, carries an old woman, 180. 
Prince Chun, 338. 

Printing on the cotton handkerchief, 244. 
Prisoner converted in jail, 104; set free, 192. 
Prison reform, 192. 
Prodigal, Return of, 173. 
Profession without possession, 195. 
Promotion for bravery, 43 ; of a soldier, 64. 
Proof against moral danger, 228. 
Prophecy of the boy, U. S. Grant, 133. 
Protection by the Great Spirit, 274; in dan- 
ger, 328. 
Providence, Faith in, 63, 127, 224, 324; com- 
plaints at, 140, 256. 
Providences, Dark and bright, 64. 
Providential deliverances, 252. 
Psychology and Christianity, 351. 
Public Schools and the Bible, 229. 
Punishment among birds, 243. 
Purity of character, 186. 
Queen, Humility of a, 123. 
Rain, Bombarding the heavens for, 247. 



INDEX 



Ransomed, 357. 

Reformation of a criminal, 19. 

Reformatory, A, 46. 

Reformed by roses, 46. 

Regularity in church attendance, 63; in re- 
ligious observation, },^2. 

Reliance on Divine providence, 17. 

Religion of Napoleon, 99, 121 ; the main 
thing, 130; politics and, 137, 164, 264; 
of Franklin, 172, 227; and patriotism, 185; 
the guide of life, 258; of Cleveland, 258; 
determination in, 265 ; of Browning, 275 ; 
of Harrison, 321; ofi Bismarck. 324; of 
Joubert, 356; of Whittier, 362; of Lincoln, 
365 ; of Washington, 372 ; of the heart, 375. 

Religious inventor, A, 83; nation, 185; devo- 
tion, 372. 

Remorse at spiritual ruin, 304. 

Reproduction, 316. 

Republican form of government, 153. 

Republic of Cuba, 369. 

Repentance on a deathbed, 131. 

Responsibilities for salvation of others, 304. 

Resurrection, Franklin on, 172; of the body, 
258. 

Revenge of a little Italian girl, 354; cured 
by Saviour's love, 354. 

Revivals, Religious, among clerks, 38; good, 
247 ; spurious, 247. 

Reward, Eternal, 61 ; for soul saving, 88. 

Rewarded for saving life, 61, 88. 

Rich and poor, 167. 

Rich man who was poor, 92. 

Riches. Stewardship of, 335. 

Richest treasure in a beautiful casket, 319. 

Riley, James Whitcomb, Story of, 141. 

Roberts, Lord, Manliness of, 266; people's 
love for 266 ; honored by Victoria, 266 ; dis- 
courages drink, 355. 

Roe, E. P., Conversation with, 220. 

Roosevelt, President, on the Bible, 74; moral 
heroism of. no. 

Rose of Sharon, 47. 

Roses and Reformation, 46. 

Royal sympathy, 147. 

Royalty of service. 181 ; real, 254. 

Ruin of the soul by neglect, 304; occasioned 
by another, 318. 

Ruler, A pious, 164; benevolence of a, 259; 
humility of a, 123. 

Rum and tobacco, 355. 

Sabbath, Disregard for the, 169. 

Sacrifice, 28, 203, 223. 305, 338; for Christ, 

253. 
Sailor, A. who lost his life for gold, 213. 
Sailors, Converted, 98; and soldiers, bravery 

of, 203. 



St. Paul's Cathedral, Cracking of, 317. 
Saloons, 44; Sunday closing of, no; enemy 

to personal liberty, 153. 
Salvation of souls, 88; by faith, 218. 
Sang and prayed in the storm, 204. 
Sanitary Commission an answer to prayer, 

365- 
Sankey, Ira, Composed "Ninety-and-Nine," 

68. 
Satan defeated by Holiness, 23. 
Saved by blood of a hind, 28; over a hun- 
dred lives, 87 ; by deed of charity, 124 ; 

three thousand children, lost his own life, 

223; his own boy, 301. 
Saving a life. Reward for, 61 ; an enemy, 113; 

others, 180; human lives. 203; souls, 209; 

children, 22},. 
Scattering and increasing, 202. 
SchefiFer, Ary, 288. 
Science and belief, 87; confirms Christianity, 

351- . 
Scientists, 140. 
Scorpion, The, 65. 
Scott, Sir Walter, on labor, 201. 
Scriptures, The, teaching at home, 134: and 

national life, 229; translation of, by Bede, 

Sea, The, lashed by Xerxes, 140; conqueror 
not stopped by the, 214. 

Self-sacrifice, 3i(J. 

Sermon at Brooklyn Navy Yard, 98; in a 
basket of provisions, 124; German Emper- 
or's, 158; a good, 193. 

Sermons, Preparation for hearing, 49. 

Service, Royalty of, 181. 

Severus and his bad sons, 31. 

Sickles, General, 255. 

Sick visited, 219. 

Sick woman's devotion to Christ, 48. 

Siege of Ladysmith, 95; of Pekin by the 
Boxers, 105. 

Sin, Captivity of, 344. 

Sincerity, 145. 

Singing, For dying soldier, 60; evangelical, 
69. 

Singleness of aim, 141. 

Singular conversion. A, 290. 

Sins, little. Danger of, 25. 

Sister secured brother's pardon, 277. 

Sister's love, A. 151 ; for brother, 241. 

Slums to the country. From the, 353. 

Snags and Success, 257. 

Snow bridges, 98. 

Social troubles, Christ the only cure of, 200. 

Soldier. A faithful. 129; a good, 254; of the 
Cross, a, 254. 262. 

Soldiers and temperance, 355. 



394 



INDEX 



Solitude, Value of, 85. 

Solomon and the ant-hill, 254. 

Son, A, saves father from bankruptcy, 102 ; 
visits home, 130; father's letter to, 145; 
runs away from home. 173; message to, 
175; of a brave mother, 214; saved by 
father, 301. 

Song " Ninety-and-Nine," Origin of, 68; min- 
istry of, 60 ; magnetism of, 380. 

Sons, Five, killed in battle, 264. 

Sorrow, Christ the cure of, 116; turneth into 
joy, 242. 309; ministry of, 256; of widow- 
hood, 278; heartrending. 273- 

Soul saving, 210, 301, 303. 

Soul, Value of, 167; and the gospel, 319; 
kidnapped a, 357; ransomed a, 357. 

South American statesman on the Bible, 229. 

South and North united, 366. 

Southern loyalty to the government, 234. 

Sowing of the dragon's teeth, 336. 

Spanish power in Cuba broken, 369. 

Speaking Oak, The, 17. 

Spenser, Dr., Pastor of Washington Irving, 

375- 

Spenser's Fairie Queen, 22. 

Spires, Very tall, 338. 

Spirit that disarmed the Boxers, 199; com- 
munication, 219; protected by the Great, 
274. 

Spirits disembodied, 219. 

Spiritual vision, 81 ; indolence, 86. 

Spurgeon. Early childhood of. 292 ; sympathy 
for, in illness, 317; did not go to college, 
346. 

Stars and Stripes, 347. 

Statue of a dog, 50. 

Steadfastness, 120. 

Stewardship, True. 135. 

Stonewall, Jackson, friendship of, 59 ;_ faith 
of, 63 ; fatally wounded, 63 ; origin of 
name, 120; character of, 120; simplicity of, 

329. 

Stories suggested by the Bible, 210. 

Storm, Sang and prayed in, 204. 

Strength gained by exertion, 180; gives way 
to weakness, 382. 

"Stripe or a coffin," 43. 

Student, Letter "V" above his door, 51 ; 
earns his college course, 156; death of a 
Japanese. 295. 

Students in college, 237. 

Sublime, The. 182. 

Success, Snags and. 257; secret of, 303; re- 
sult of work, 337. 

Sudden death. 82. 

Suicide, Contemplated. 207. 

Sunday, Observance, 169. 



Sunday Schools, 134; regularity in attend- 
ing, 62; work, 83; scholar, 94; class, Vic- 
toria teacher of, 96. 
Sun, The eternal, 162. 

Swett, Leonard, and Lincoln, 149, 

Sympathy, Royal, 147; Lincoln's, 176; wom- 
an's, 199; for poor and sick children, 277; 
for widowhood, 278. 

Tabernacle of Boston, Meeting in, 297. 

Tablet of the heart, 57. 

Taking aim, 193. 

Talent, Buried, 86. 

"Tales of a traveler," 346. 

Tall trees liable to be struck by lightning, 226. 

Talmage, Dr., His sermon converts prisoner, 
104; estimate of, by Dr. Kiopsch, 215; as 
preacher, orator, man, 215; his kindness of 
heart, 215; his love for the Bible, 215; 
preached what he believed, 215. 

Taming the brazen bulls, 228. 

Tarrytown, Washington Irving at, 375. 

Telegraph, electric. The inventor of the, 29; 
message, the first, 30. 

Temperance, 355 ; soldiers and, 355. 

Temporal preferred to the eternal, 261. 

Ten days in paradise, 353. 

Tennyson, Lord, his prayer, 185. 

Tennyson's story of Gareth and Lynette, 273. 

Testimony to the truth. 121 ; value of, 269. 

Thief in the carriage-house. The, 268. 

Thoughtlessness in the Lord's house, 49. 

Throne. Intercession before the, 234. 

Tiger kills a boy, 44. 

Time of silence. The, 298 ; the stream of, 330. 

Tobacco and rum, 355. 

Tombs, A prisoner in the, 104. 

Tortoise in zoological park, 296. 

Total abstinence of Whittier, 362. 

Tract, Value of, 269. 

Tragedy, Contrasts of the, 382. 

Tragic events develop truest heroism, 311, 

Train boy's ears. Boxed the, 299. 

Translation of the Scriptures, 142. 

Treasure, Lost by ignorance, 260 ; lost by 
neglect, 260; in the most beautiful casket, 
319- 

Tree of life, 23. 

Tremper, Captain, 182. 

Triumph over hindrances, 156, 265. 

Triumphant death of a Japanese student, 295. 

Triumphs of the Cross, 142. 

Trust in Christ alone, 188. 

Trying Ordeal. A. 303. 

Turtle four hundred years old, A. 296. 

Twin graves of the mountain, 217. 

Una, The story of, 22. 

Unbelief, Ruin of, 27. 



395 



INDEX 



Uncertainty of life, 82. 

Underground railway, London, 317. 

Undutiful daughters, 39. 

Undying friendship, 78. 

Union of North and South, 366. 

Unseen beauties and glories of God, 153. 

Unselfishness is the law of life, 316. 

Vacant chair. The 366. 

Vale of Misery, 330. 

Valor. 68. 

Value of a soul irrespective of circumstances, 

167; of Christ's brotherhood, 298. 
Vanity, Fatal, 174, 226. 
Vengeance, 373. 
Vice requires bosses, 154; penalty of, 244; 

self destructive, 337, 340. 
Victoria Cross, Origin of, 148. 
Victorian age. The, 37. 

Victoria teaches a Sunday school class, 96; 
humility of, 123; solicitude for two little 
boys, 147; childhood of, 183; love for ani- 
mals, 200; widowhood of, 278; real crown 
of, 352. 
Victory over foes, 52 ; over spiritual foes, 68. 
Virgin Mary, 189. 
Virtue, 52; temporal value of, 341. 
Vision, Mental, moral, spiritual, 81. 
Voice of God, 18. 
Von Ketteler, Baron, expiation for death of, 

338. 
Von Moltke, 134. 
Wang Chang Pel's death, 236. 
War of American Revolution, 94; justifiable 
and unjustifiable, 337; leading to national 
unity, 366. 
Washington, Ambition of, 23; faith in Prov- 
idence, 137; charity of, 262; love for the 
poor, 262 ; narrow escape of, 274 ; faith in 
Divine providence, 274; habits of devotion, 
372. 
Water of life. The, 23, 96; supply at Lady- 
smith, 95. 
Weakness gives way to strength, 382. 
Wealth, Poverty in, 92, 135 ; ministry of, 335. 
Webster, Daniel, and the Bible, 134; on re- 
ligion and the nation, 164; and the cotton 
handkerchief, 244; and the Constitution, 
244. 
Wedding, Died at, 320. 

Western influence on Yankee preacher, 303. 

Whalers who missed a valuable prize, 260. 

Whiskey a murderer. 131. 

Whittier, J. G., Influenced by Burns, 300; 

first poem of, 360; encouraged to go to 

school, 360; and Christian doctrine, 362; 

religion of, 362; influence of the Bible on, 

362. 



White ants. Danger of, 25. 

White House, Family prayers in the, 321. 

White lies, 146. 

Wicked sons, 31. 

Widow and her son, 345. 

Widowhood, 278. 

Wife's face in case of his watch, 249. 

Wife, Looked back and lost his, 294. 

Wildman, Consul General, and family lost, 

155. 
"Wilhelm Meister," no cure for earthly sor- 
row, 116. 
Williams, Sir George, 38. 
Will, Strength of, 127, 233, 265, 306, 337, 
370, 373; divine, 257, 266, 310; the human, 
310. 
Witnesses of Christ, 122. 
Woman from Grimesville, The, 199. 
Womanhood, The crown of, 62; and clothes, 

272. 
Womanly sympathy, 147; virtues, 352. 
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, Friend 
of, 48, 253; love for her country, 122; 
prayer, 199; sympathy, 199; suffering, 253; 
sacrifice for Christ, 253. 
Words on Cross, 234. 
Work, 248, 283, 337. 

Workingman, Gift of four millions to, 135. 
Working one's way through college, 156. 
Working people and a free library, 191. 
Works and faith, 114. 
Wounds, five. Story of, 342. 
Wrath. Insanity of, 337. 
Wu-Ting-Fang on Lincoln, 223, 
Xerxes, lashing the sea, 140; the defeat of, 

226. 
Yale, How a student supported himself at, 

156. 
Yao and Lincoln compared, 223. 
Young Christians, Advice to, by President 

McKinley, 161. 
Young man choosing an occupation, 17. 
Young man's heroism, 87. 
Young man saves many lives, 87 ; Lincoln's 
kindness to, 149 ; preaches to a preacher, 
269; evangelical zeal of. 269; a fast, 318; 
saves seventeen from drowning, 364. 
Young men. Fast, 31, 118; splendid advice 

to. 168; and the State, 286. 
Young Men's Christian Association, Foun- 
dation of, 38; work, 118, 194. 
Young missionary to Indiana, 303. 
Young officer. Religious, 262; brave, 262. 
Young people and Divine guidance, 18. 
Young soldiers of the Cross, 273. 
Zeal in soul saving. 270. 364. 
Zion, The tower of, 275. 



396 



INDEX OF TEXTS APPROPRIATE TO THE STORIES 

OF THE BOOK 



ACTS 

Ch. vor. Page 

2: 37-41 193 

5: 12 188 

6: 3 315 

7: 60 187 

8 : 2,2 2d, 

9: 39 48 

10 : 34 104 

12: 7- 1 1 192 

16: 30-31 217 

17: 26 119 

21 : 14 64 

28: 3-5 64 

I. CHRONICLES 

19: 13 254 

28: 9 130 

COLOSSIANS 

3: 16 319 

19 134 

I. CORINTHIANS 

i: 3-4 317 

2: 2 303 

3: 3 58 

8 61 

11 317 

12 162 

14 61 

4: 17-18 45 

18 81 

6: 10 43 



I. CORINTHIANS 

Ch. ver. Page 

13: 4 335 

4-5 116 

15: 26 273 

55 236 

58 50, 63, 120 

II. CORINTHIANS 

1 : 3-4 42, 116, 199 

3-4 278 

8-11 261 

3: 18 69, 152 

4: 5 193 

17 loi, 161, 242 

18 140 

5 : I 22 

6: 2 99, 15s 

18 308 

7: 2 283 

11: 31 283 

DANIEL 
12 : 3 88, 237 

DEUTERONOMY 

6: 7 loi, 134 

7-8 247 

ECCLESIASTES 

4 : 9 306 

9: 10 114, 201 

11: I 269 

12: 13 324 

14 61, 321 

397 



EPHESIANS 

Ch. vor. Page 

4: 8 273 

II-I2 303 

5: 10 221 

19 382 

25 197, 249 

6: 10 68 

16 228 

EXODUS 

7: II 158 

14: 21-22 85 

20: 8 no, 169 

9 34, 129, 22,7' 

12 39, 41 

31: 3-4-5 102 

EZEKIEL 
45: 8 254 

GALATIANS 

2 : 20 149 

4: 18 289 

5: I 150 

6 : 2 149, 180 

7 243 

9 127, 141, 289 

14 149, 286 

GENESIS 

21: 15, 16 308 

28: 17 55 

35 : 20 ?22 

2,7- 7-12 23 



INDEX OF TEXTS 



HEBREWS 

Cb. ver. Page 

2: 3 304, 328 

II 297 

4 : 12 210 

9 : 22 28 

11: 4 239 

10 60 

14-16 330 

27 139 

37-39 43 

12: I 366 

2 ... 51, 253, 265, 295 

11 256 

13: 2 oO 

ISAIAH 

1 : 18 19 

6: 8 190 

25: II 340 

28 : 10 134 

45: 5 133 

53: 5 33 

54: 5 278 

55: 7 Ill 

lo-ii 210 

JAMES 

1 : 22-25-27 124 

2: 17 114 

4: 14 330 

5 : 20 88, 210 

JEREMIAH 
19: 5 145 

JOB 

1 : 21 141 

2: 4 244 

19: 11-12 308 

23-24 191 

20 : 23-26 172 

21 : 19-22 308 

37: 18 152 



JOHN 

Ch. ver. Page 

i: 4 96 

3: 14-15 73 

19 96 

4: 10 96 

14 23, 96 

5: 17 337 

39 74. 351 

6: 35 330 

38 310 

8: 32 103 

36 154 

51 275 

9: 4 154 

6-7 208 

10: 10 207, 27s 

11: 33-35 147 

12: 32 73, 283, 359 

14: 1-2 42 

1-2-16-18 116 

2-3 22 

2-3-18 295 

15-19 150 

15: 8 316 

13 . 70, 151 

17 79 

16: 13 303 

32 20 

33 257 

17: 3 27s 

21 194 

19: 30 233 

I. JOHN 

2: 13 286 

3: 12 187 

15 206 

17 293 

4: 9-10 112 

16 277 

19 227 

5: 4 50 

JOSHUA 

23: 10 189 

24: 23 55 

398 



JUDGES 

Cb. ver. Page 

5: 18 254 

1 1 : 36-37 122 

I. KINGS 

2: 2-3 175 

18: 39 138 

II. KINGS 

17: 39 344 

LEVITICUS 

13 : 45 24 

19: II 205, 318 

LUKE 

2: 14 30 

6 : 28 240 

48 317 

7: 5 312, 347 

9: 62 294 

10: 42 261 

11: 9 327 

12: 4 95 

21 92 

14: II 123, 184 

28-32 93 

15: 18 173 

20-29 173 

16 : 10 25 

17: 32 294 

23 : 43 133, 320 

MALACHI 
4: 2 29 

MARK 

i: 37 289 

6: 31 86 

7 : 10 39 

10: 14 20 

14-16 52 

16: 15 117 

18 64 



MATTHEW 
Ch. ver. Page 

5: 4 288 

5 97, 123, 184 

8 140 

43-44 113 

43-45 206 

44 240 

6: 10 310 

II Z7^ 

14-15 355 

19-20 92, 261 

19 168 

28 207 

7: 7 158, 365 

8: 25 204 

10: 37-39 253 

11: 28 288 

13: 4-8 49 

31-32 118 

44 86 

18: 3 236 

10 42 

11 364 

19: 21 135, 168 

20: 28 120, 357 

21 : 28 248 

22: 21 286 

24 : 44 .... 82, 99, 236, 320 

25: 15 213 

18 ..' 86 

25 86 

34-40 62 

36 103 

Z7 55 

40 119, 2-]"] 

26: 28 83 

38 374 

27 : 42 32, 223, 30s 

28: 6 150 

NEHEMIAH 
2: 20 127 

NUMBERS 

10: 29 328 

23: 23 30 



INDEX OF TEXTS 

I. PETER 

Ch. ver. Page 
i: 8 221 

II. PETER 

1 : 7 176 

PHILIPPIANS 

2: 12 ZZ7 

3: 13 266 

14 348 

PROVERBS 

i: 18 2,17 

2: II 257 

3: 6 115 

18 23 

4: 7 156 

8 83 

8-9 352 

14-15 225 

23 26, 2"]^ 

6: 6-8 156 

10: I 102 

7 57 

18 146 

1 1 : 24 202 

12: 10 200 

24 283 

14: 34 164, 218 

16: 2 104 

5 226 

8 206 

18 Z2,^ 226 

20-21 224 

20 31S 

24 41 

18: 24 79, 308 

19: 17 62, 262, 335 

26 39 

20 : 4 34 

22: 2 167 

6 183, 292 

399 



PROVERBS 

Ch. ver. Page 

22,: 12 26 

24-25 41 

24 102 

26 375 

31-32 131 

24: 29 355 

25: 17 254 

26: 13 258 

24-25 146 

27: 9 361 

PSALMS 

2: 8 142, 214, 238 

4: 2 226 

7: 16 138, 227 

II : I 121 

14: I 163, 351 

19: I 87 

1-5 182 

7 74 

7-1 1 229 

21 : 2 369 

23: 4 21, 357 

22-- 12 115, 185 

37: 22 17 

27 ■ 223 

41 : I 262 

46: 10 298 

58: II 61 

61: 4 311 

71 : 18 296 

72: I 286 

72- 18 225 

84: 2 238 

6 247 

91: 2-7 261 

4 199, 252 

7 274 

II 252, 310 

98: 4-5-6 380 

loi : 2 80 

106: 10 254 

116: 15 236 



INDEX OF TEXTS 



PSALMS 

Ch. ver. Page 

119: 10 80 

105 74- 231, 329 

144: 9 68 

REVELATION 

i: 6 382 

i: 18 209 

2 : 10 63, 268 

7: 14 251 

14: 13 219 

21: 4 382 

22: 17 23 

ROMANS 

5: 6-8 113 

6: 12-18 153 

8: 17 251 

28 lOI 

12: II 283 

18 366 

20 234 

13: 14 285 

14: 8 63 



RUTH 

Ch. Ter. Pago 

1 : 16-17 24 

L SAMUEL 

3: 18 63 

7: 12 189 

16 : 7 92, 272 

17: 32 93, no 

18: 3 306 

19: 5 31 

20: 3 99, 330 

22 : 2-4 105 

17 79 

IL SAMUEL 

3: 38 216, 235 

10: 12 254 

12: 23 219 

14: 5 278 

22: 30 369 

SONG OF SOLOMON 
(CANTICLES) 

2 : I 46 

15 25 

4: 10 151 

5: 16 369 



L THESSALONIANS 

Ch. ver. Page 

4: 6 205, 318 

5: 17 372 

I. TIMOTHY 

I : II 29 

17 37 

19 27 

4: 6 292 

8 341 

6: 10 213 

12 114 

15-16 37 

17-19 259 

II. TIMOTHY 

i: 5 287 

2 : 3 129, 262 

26 357 

3: 15 102, 218 

4: 7 233 

7-8 266 

TITUS 
2: 6-8 38 

ZECHARIAH 
4: 6 23, 68 



THE END 



400 



NOV SI 1902 



